Liverpool shooting: Hunt for Olivia Pratt-Korbel gunman

Police are continuing to hunt for the person who shot dead a nine-year-old girl at her home in Liverpool.

Olivia Pratt-Korbel was killed by a masked gunman who had chased an unknown male into a house in the Dovecot area on Monday night.

Merseyside Police has appealed to anyone with information to come forward, including members of Liverpool’s “criminal fraternity”.

Police are reviewing CCTV footage and conducting house-to-house inquiries.

They said the gunman “fired indiscriminately”, hitting Olivia in the chest as she stood behind her mother. Cheryl Korbel was hit in the wrist, and the man in the body, during the shooting in Kingsheath Avenue at about 22:00 BST.

They have not yet spoken to the injured man, who had not been arrested and was in hospital in a serious, but not life threatening, condition.

Mrs Korbel is recovering in another hospital.

At a press conference on Tuesday, Merseyside Police said:

Merseyside Police Chief Constable Serena Kennedy described the attack as “shocking and appalling”.

She said: “I want to take this opportunity again to appeal to anybody who knows who is responsible for this attack to please come forward and give us those names.

“We need to find all who are responsible for this – not just the gunman – we need to find out who supplied the weapon and who arranged this terrible incident.”

She said Olivia’s death was “an absolute tragedy and crosses every single boundary”.

Ms Kennedy added: “If people are frightened to come forward, we can have those conversations in confidence.”

Prime Minister Boris Johnson described the shooting as “horrific” and “senseless”.

Writing in a Twitter post, Mr Johnson said Merseyside Police will “get whatever they need to catch those responsible and secure justice for Olivia”.

Mayor of Liverpool Joanne Anderson said the shooting was an “abhorrent act of evil” and “someone out there knows who did this”.

Olivia’s headteacher Rebecca Wilkinson, from St Margaret Mary’s Catholic Junior School in Huyton, described her as “a much-loved member of our school” with a “beautiful smile, a lovely sense of humour, and a bubbly personality”.

Residents have been laying down flowers near to the scene in Kingsheath Avenue.

Olivia’s death comes after a spate of killings involving guns and knives on Merseyside in recent weeks.