Two more arrests in Aya Hachem murder probe

A further two people have been arrested in the investigation into the murder of Aya Hachem, taking the total in police custody to 11.
Aya HachemAya Hachem
Aya Hachem

A woman, 29, and a man, 39, both from Blackburn were detained in the town this afternoon on suspicion of murder. This follows the earlier arrests of two women, aged 19 and 26 from the Blackburn area on suspicion of assisting an offender and also a man, 28, from Blackburn on suspicion of murder. They are all in custody.

Yesterday, two men aged 31 and 35 were arrested on suspicion of murder and a man, 29, on suspicion of assisting an offender. They also remain in custody, along with three men aged 39, 33 and 36, from Blackburn, who were arrested on suspicion of murder on Monday.

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The latter three men appeared before magistrates this morning and officers were granted a warrant of further detention for 36 hours.

Police launched a major investigation after Aya, 19, was shot in broad daylight on Sunday as she was out shopping close to the Lidl supermarket on King Street in Blackburn.

Emergency services attended and she was taken to hospital but was sadly pronounced dead a short time later.

A post mortem examination revealed that Aya died as a result of a gunshot wound to her chest.

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Before she was fatally wounded, a light silver/ green Toyota Avensis drove past Aya. Shots were fired from the vehicle and tragically, one of them struck and killed her. Officers do not believe she was the intended target of the attack.

The Avensis, with the registration number SV53 UBP, was recovered by police on Sunday on Wellington Road.

Senior Investigating Officer, Det Supt Andy Cribbin from Lancashire Constabulary’s Force Major Investigation Team (FMIT) said: “This is a very fast moving investigation, with information coming in from various places which we are reacting to swiftly. My thanks goes to everyone who has passed on information to us, be that over the phone, through the Major Incident Public Portal (MIPP) or via Crimestoppers.

“I continue to appeal to people who think they know who was involved in the tragic shooting of Aya but haven’t spoken to us yet to do the right thing and make contact. Aya, the innocent victim in all of this, along with her family, deserve justice and it is people telling us what they know that will help us find the people or person responsible. ”

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A police presence remains in the area around the shooting whilst enquiries continue.

The shooting is not being treated as terrorism-related or a racially-motivated.

Any information or video footage can be sent in to us via the Major Incident Public Portal.

Anybody with any other information is asked to get in touch on 101, quoting log number 0412 of May 18th, or anonymously via independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or online at crimestoppers-uk.org.