The family of Olivia Pratt-Korbel have paid tribute to their “chatty, nosey little girl” and pleaded for information about the nine-year-old’s killer.
The school girl was shot dead on Monday night by a masked gunman who broke into her home while chasing another man in the Dovecot area of Liverpool.
In a statement released on Thursday evening, her family said: “Liv was a unique chatty, nosey little girl who broke the mould when she was born. She loved life and all it had to offer.”
The tribute came after police earlier revealed they were “unclear at this stage” if the gunman was even still in the UK.
Olivia’s family added: “Liv was adored by everyone who knew her and would instantly make friends with anyone and everyone. She was often seen going up and down the street on her new bike she had just got for her birthday.
“Although her life was short, her personality certainly wasn’t and she lived it to the most she could, and would blow people away with her wit and kindness. We as a family are heartbroken and have lost a huge part of our life.”
And they called on anyone with any information about her killing to report what they knew.
“If anyone knows anything, now is the time to speak up,” they said. “It is not about being a ‘snitch’ or a ‘grass’ it is about finding out who took our baby away from us. Please do the right thing.”
The tribute followed a day of developments in the hunt for her killer.
Merseyside Police earlier admitted it was possible the gunman may have fled the country – but they said they had been given “a number of names” by people in the community with hundreds of detectives following those leads.
Speaking at a press call, Detective Chief Superintendent Mark Kameen warned the killer: “We will not rest until we find you, and we will find you…We will find him wherever he goes.”
Convicted burglar and drug dealer Joseph Nee also from the Dovecot area of Liverpool, has been named as the intended target of the shooting.
The 35-year-old is understood to have burst into the youngster’s family home after her mum Cheryl Korbel opened the front door after hearing a disturbance.
The killer chased him inside firing indiscriminately, wounding Cheryl and Nee, and killing Olivia. Her older brother and sister were in the house but upstairs at the time.
A man who was with Nee but escaped unharmed has now been identified, while the driver of an Audi Q3 which collected him from Olivia’s house and took him to hospital has also been questioned by police.
In other developments, Detective Kameen praised the level of support from communities as “phenomenal”, but continued to appeal for anyone with information to come forward.
“I am incredibly grateful for the sheer levels and volume of information that we have received so far,” he said. “This level of engagement, this level of cooperation, and this level of working together simply must continue.”
And he added: “Again, I would ask those who operate in the criminal fraternity to search their consciences around these three attacks and come forward.”
Olivia’s killing occurred following a spate of violence in the city which has seen three people killed in a week.
Council worker, Ashley Dale, 28, was shot at an address in the Old Swan area in the early hours of Sunday morning in a suspected case of mistaken identity. A man has now been arrested on suspicion of murder in that case, while a woman has been arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender.
Sam Rimmer, 22, was shot dead in the Dingle area on 16 August with three people since arrested.
Police say they do not believe the killings are linked but are keeping an “open mind”.
