Girl, 9, Shot Dead in Liverpool by Gunman Who Chased Stranger Into Her Home

Police officers at the scene where a 9-year-old girl was shot dead in Knotty Ash, Liverpool, United Kingdom, on Aug. 23, 2022. PA

Detectives say a 9-year-old girl who was shot dead in Liverpool on Monday night was killed when a man, who was being chased by a gunman, forced his way into her home.

Merseyside Police Chief Constable Serena Kennedy said Olivia Pratt-Korbel was killed and her mother, Cheryl, was wounded when the gunman fired at the man, who was a complete stranger to the family, in the house in Knotty Ash around 10 p.m.

Olivia’s mother was shot in the wrist and the 35-year-old man suffered gunshot wounds to the body. Both are now in hospital and are thought to be under police guard.

Kennedy said Olivia’s family were “absolutely devastated, inconsolable, and heartbroken” and she said the killing had “rocked” the community.

The incident occurred exactly 15 years after Rhys Jones, 11, was shot dead in nearby Croxteth. Rhys was walking home from football practice when he was mistakenly shot by a teenage gunman aiming at a gang rival.

It took eight months before Rhys’s killer was charged and Paula Barker, the Labour MP for Liverpool Wavertree, said there was a culture in the city of people not “grassing” on criminals.

But she urged people to contact Merseyside Police if they had any information about Monday’s shooting and told the BBC, “A 9-year-old girl has lost her life and that is not OK.”

Barker said: “It is obviously devastating and it comes 15 years to the day after Rhys Jones was senselessly murdered on the streets of our city as well. It is completely unacceptable and this mindless violence simply has to stop.”

Rhys Jones Murder ‘Should Have Been Watershed Moment’

Kennedy told a press conference on Tuesday, “Rhys’s murder should have been a watershed moment but shockingly there are still callous criminals using guns, with complete disregard for the pain they have caused Olivia’s family.”

Olivia is the third person in a week to be shot dead in Liverpool.

Sam Rimmer, 22, was gunned down in Toxteth on Aug. 16, and on Sunday 28-year-old council worker Ashley Dale died after she was shot in the Old Swan district. Her 16-year-old half-brother was murdered in 2015.

Merseyside Police said Olivia died after the gunman fired into the house from outside, striking her in the chest.

House-to-house inquiries are being carried out and detectives are also seeking CCTV footage from the area as they assess ballistic evidence from the scene.

Liverpool has seen its fair share of tragic murders.

In November 2021 Ava White, 12, was stabbed to death in the city centre after she tried to stop a teenage boy filming her on Snapchat. The boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was jailed for life for her murder in July.

The Rhys Jones case hit the national headlines and it took eight months before anyone was charged.

Eventually Sean Mercer, 17, was jailed for a minimum of 22 years and his mother, Janette, 48, was jailed for three years for perverting the course of justice.

The trial heard that Mercer, a member of the Croxteth Crew gang, had been targeting a 19-year-old rival from the Nogga Dogz gang but shot Rhys by mistake.

PA Media contributed to this report.