Liverpool gun wars’ innocent victim: Girl, nine, who was shot dead is pictured as police reveal hitman in black balaclava forced his way into her home while chasing other man off the street before opening fire also wounding her mother
- Young girl was shot in the chest by a gunman who burst into house before also shooting a man and a woman
- Police hunting ‘cowardly’ gunman after Ashley Dale also shot dead when killer ‘sprayed bullets’ around home
- Officers have not linked the two killings, which took place 24 hours apart and less two miles from each other
- Another woman, in her 50s, was also stabbed in a separate incident near a pub in Kirkby, close to Liverpool
- **Do you have an information on the schoolgirl attack? Email [email protected]**
A nine-year-old girl who was shot dead last night in Liverpool was today named as Olivia Pratt-Korbel – as police revealed she was the random victim of a gun battle that saw the shooter barge his way into her family home and open fire with ‘complete disregard’ for anyone inside.
The gunman, wearing a black balaclava and black gloves, forced his way into the house while hunting for a man he was chasing. As Olivia’s mother, Cheryl, desperately tried to keep him out, he opened fire through the front door, hitting Olivia in the chest and Cheryl on her hand, before bursting inside and firing two more shots at the man he was chasing.
Giving more information about the lead-up to the incident, Detective Chief Superintendent Mark Kameen said two men were walking along Kingsheath Avenue at just before 10pm when they were approached by a man holding a handgun and wearing a black padded jacket, a black balaclava and black gloves.
The ‘hitman’ fired at the two men with a handgun and they ran away.
Hearing the shots, Olivia’s mother opened her front door to see what was going on outside. One of the men, aged 35, opened the door and forced his way into the house. He was followed shortly by the gunman, who put his hand through the open door and forced it open as Cheryl desperately fought against him.
The gunman then shot through the door and hit Olivia and her mother, before continuing to try to gain entry and firing two further shots inside.
The killing came 15 years to the day after 11-year-old Rhys Jones was shot dead in Croxteth.
Olivia Pratt-Korbel (left) was today named by police as the nine-year-old victim of a horrific shooting last night in Liverpool
And just 48 hours before Olivia’s death, 28-year-old Ashley Dale on Sunday was shot dead in her home in Old Swan – a mile-and-a-half away from last night’s heinous killing.
The ‘bright, hardworking’ graduate, who had just been promoted by her employer, Knowsley Council, was the victim of a case of ‘mistaken identity’, police believe. Shockingly, her 16-year-old brother, Lewis, was himself shot dead seven years before by a gang who mistook him for a rival.
**Do you have an information on the schoolgirl attack?
Email [email protected]**
Police have not linked the siblings’ killings, nor do they believe Ms Dale’s death is linked to the nine-year-old girl’s murder.
The murders have prompted outrage in Liverpool, with local MP Paula Barker condemning the ‘mindless violence’ that had left residents ‘absolutely horrified’.
Mayor of Liverpool Joanne Anderson, addressing the murdered girl’s family, said: ‘This is absolutely devastating. The pain you must feel right now is unimaginable. This is a tragedy that will shake our communities.’
Assistant Chief Constable Jenny Sims called the latest killing a ‘truly shocking incident’ and ‘abhorrent’ to the local community. She added: ‘No parent should ever have to suffer the loss of a child in these dreadful circumstances.’
The child suffered critical injuries and died in hospital. A man was also shot in the body while a woman also suffered gunshot wounds to the hand. Both are in hospital being treated.
In a separate incident last night, a woman in her 50s – named locally as Karen Dempsey, was stabbed to death in a pub car park in Kirkby, Merseyside after reportedly trying to break up a fight. Two men have been arrested.
In addition, police are still searching for two people who fled on electric bikes following the fatal shooting of a man in his early 20s in inner-city Toxteth late on August 16.
Just last month, a teenage boy was jailed for the murder of 12-year-old Ava White, who was stabbed to death in Liverpool city centre following a row over a Snapchat video last November.
Ms Dale was the first woman to be murdered with a gun in Liverpool since 22-year-old mother Lucy Hargreaves was shot dead on her sofa by three masked men as her children, aged nine months, two, and five, slept upstairs. Her murderer has never been brought to justice.
There were 211 firearms offences on Merseyside from April 2021 to March 2022 compared to 140 the year before – a rise of 51 per cent.
However, the figures have been distorted by a drop in Covid, with the 227 firearms offences in 2019 to 2020 comparable to this year’s figure. Longer term . In July, police said the number of reports of weapons being discharged was at a 20-year low.
A nine-year-old schoolgirl, who has not been identified, was shot in the chest in a house in Kingsheath Avenue, Knotty Ash, just before 10pm last night. Pictured: The scene this morning cordoned off by police who have also closed the road
An aerial view of the scene on Kingsheath Avenue, showing a cordon around a house which has also taped off the road
ASHLEY DALE
Ashley Dale was a graduate of Liverpool John Moores University and worked for Knowsley Council. The 28-year-old, described as a ‘lovely, hardworking’ young woman with an ‘infectious’ smile, was shot dead in her home in Old Swan on Sunday.
LEWIS DUNNE
Ms Dale’s brother, Lewis Dunne, was gunned down on a canal towpath in 2015 aged just 16. The ‘kind, gentle’ boy was ‘wholly innocent’ had simply been ‘in the wrong place at the wrong time,’ police said. Police have not linked the siblings’ killings.
LUCY HARGREAVES
The 22-year-old mother-of-three was shot dead on her sofa in 2005 by three masked men as her children, aged nine months, two, and five, slept upstairs. The gang then set her on fire. No one has ever been brought to justice for one of Liverpool’s most notorious unsolved murders.
RHYS JONES
The 11-year-old was shot dead in 2007 while walking home from football practice in Croxteth. Sean Mercer – who was 16 at the time of the shooting – was convicted of his murder and sentenced to life with a minimum term of 22 years.
Officers and sniffer dogs are now hunting down the gunman responsible for last night’s shooting and running door to door enquiries after they cordoned off a large area around the home in Knotty Ash.
No arrests have yet been made.
One resident, who did not want to be named, said: ‘It’s really disgusting, and it will not be tolerated around here. I believe because a child was involved people will name the culprit and he deserves to be named because he is a coward.’
Another local described hearing four gunshots last night, while a woman, who asked not to be named, said the tragedy made her worry for her own children.
‘It’s devastating. It can’t carry on like this,’ she said. ‘I have four boys and for this to happen on our own doorstep is shocking.
‘The streets here are always full of kids playing.’
Helen Alohan, 49, described Kingsheath Avenue as a close-knit community where local children played together on the street.
Police said house-to-house, CCTV and forensic enquiries are in the process of being carried out, while a cordon is also in place.
Assistant Chief Constable Sims added: ‘This crime is abhorrent and our communities must come forward and tell us who is responsible.
‘This cowardly individual does not deserve to be walking the streets and I would urge those who know anything to speak to us and tell us what they know so that we can put the person responsible behind bars where they belong.
‘We are carrying out a number of lines of enquiry as a matter of urgency and would ask for dashcam, CCTV or mobile phone footage from anyone who lives, works or was visiting the area of Kingsheath Avenue last night.’
Ashley Dale was gunned down outside the property in Old Swan shortly after midnight on Sunday.
No arrests have so far been made.
Gunman are thought to have burst through the door of her £70,000 three-bedroom terraced home, where she ‘lived largely on her own’, and sprayed bullets inside.
Police were called by neighbours reporting the sound of what they thought were gunshots or fireworks, and officers found Miss Dale fatally injured in the back garden.
Merseyside Police believe the property was purposefully targeted, but Miss Dale was not the intended victim. She was treated at the scene but died later in hospital.
A car was found with flat tyres outside, with police saying it was used by her and registered to her family.
The vehicle has now been removed to be examined.
Ashley Dale, 28, was gunned down in her home in Old Swan, Liverpool on Sunday. Police do not believe the two murders are linked
Police forensic officers at the scene of shooting of Ms Dale in Liverpool in Leinster Road, the Old Swan area of the city
Merseyside Police were also called last night to Brambles pub on Cherryfield Drive at around 8.10pm where they found a woman with a stab wound. She was taken to hospital in a serious condition but died
Grandmother is stabbed to death in a pub car park while ‘trying to break up a fight’
A woman who was stabbed to death as she tried to ‘break up a fight’ between two men behind a pub has been named locally as Karen Dempsey.
Officers were called to Brambles pub on Cherryfield Drive, in Kirkby, near Liverpool, at around 8.10pm last night following reports of an altercation.
A woman in her 50s was found in the car park of the venue with a stab wound to her chest consistent with a weapon being used, Merseyside Police said.
The woman has now been named locally as grandmother Karen Dempsey.
A local man told the Liverpool Echo that Karen died after she tried to break up a fight between two men in a service road behind the Brambles pub.
Knife murder victim Karen Dempsey, who died last night
In a statement, Miss Dale’s family said on Monday: ‘Ashley, our girl – our shining light. Our hearts are broken into a million pieces. Ashley was a hard-working young woman who had her entire life ahead of her.
‘She had just been promoted at her job with Knowsley Council. She had a degree and so many plans for her bright future that had only just begun. Her laugh, smile and energy was infectious in any room.
‘We can’t come to terms with how this would happen to a defenceless woman in her own home. None of this makes sense and our lives will never be the same again. A senseless crime that has torn a family apart. Justice needs to be brought.’
Her own brother Lewis Dunne was shot dead in 2015 aged just 16 by a gang who mistook him for a rival. Police described him as ‘wholly innocent’ and said he had simply been ‘in the wrong place at the wrong time’.
Tributes were paid to Miss Dale yesterday, including from her former colleague Carol Tunstall who wrote on social media: ‘So very sad. Ashley worked with us a good few years back. Such a beautiful, lovely young girl.’
Her alma mater, Liverpool John Moores University, also fondly remembered the 28-year-old when she was a ‘popular student’ who was hoping for a career in local government.
Graeme Mitchell, senior lecturer in public health at Liverpool John Moores University, told MailOnline: ‘We remember Ashley as a keen and popular student who was looking forward to a career in public service.
‘She has recently obtained her registration as an environmental health practitioner and had secured a promotion within Knowsley Council.
‘She obtained her degree, despite the personal tragedy of having her brother killed. We’re all in shock at the moment.’
Meanwhile, Merseyside Police were called last night to Brambles pub on Cherryfield Drive at around 8.10pm where they found a woman with a stab wound. She was taken to hospital in a serious condition but died.
In the same incident, a man in his 30s is also being treated in hospital after being stabbed in his arm and body.
Officers have detained a 38-year-old man on suspicion of s18 and affray while a 32-year-old man later handed himself in and was arrested on suspicion of murder.
Detective Inspector Laura Lamping said: ‘We are currently in the very early stages of an investigation as we seek to establish what has taken place.
‘We believe there was an altercation which started inside the premises and carried on outside. Sadly, a woman suffered a stab wound which proved to be fatal.
‘We currently have two people in custody but out enquiries remain ongoing. I would ask anyone who was in the vicinity of Cherryfield Drive who saw or heard anything or has any information which could assist the investigation to contact us as a matter of urgency.’
A police officer on Kingsheath Avenue, Knotty Ash. Today residents saw sniffer dogs and police going door to door
Several police cars are pictured on Kingsheath Avenue as officers continue to hunt the gunman
A man was also shot in the body while a woman also suffered gunshot wounds to the hand. Both are in hospital being treated for their injuries. Pictured: Police this morning patrolling the scene
Tragically, this is not the first time a young girl has been murdered in Liverpool in recent years. Ava White, 12, was stabbed to death by a 14-year-old boy after a petty row outside Primark on November 25 last year.
The boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was convicted by a jury of her murder on 24 May this year by a unanimous verdict and sentenced on 11 July at Liverpool Crown Court to life, to serve a minimum of 13 years.
Violence and sexual offences have been rising in the city as it has become the most dangerous area in Merseyside and one of the worst in the UK.
There were 31,372 violent and sexual offences reported during 2021, 21% higher than 2020’s figure of 24,782 offences.
Police have said they are aware that, in Liverpool, there is sometimes a culture of ‘not grassing’ to officers.
Merseyside Police have asked anyone with information on the Knotty Ash shootings to direct message @MerPolCC or call @CrimestoppersUK on 0800 555 111 quoting log 1083 of August 22.
Ava White (pictured) was stabbed in the neck at the junction of School Lane and Church Alley in Liverpool city centre on November 25 last year
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