Football fans from the city of Liverpool have paid tribute to nine-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel, who was shot inside her home.
Thousands of fans applauded in the ninth minute of the Liverpool and Bournemouth game and both teams rose in unison to pay tribute as Liverpool fans sang the team’s anthem, You’ll Never Walk Alone.
Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp paid tribute to Olivia in the match programme notes: “Away from football, I need to talk about a subject of much, much more importance. Like anyone else who loves Liverpool and its people, I was incredibly shocked by the murder of Olivia Pratt-Korbel. Nine years old? How can this happen? How can this happen? How is this even possible?
“I cannot comprehend it and the more I think about it, the more difficult it becomes to understand. That it could happen in a city as special as this one where people look out for one another and stand together makes even less sense.
“I would like to pass on the sympathies of everyone at Liverpool FC to Olivia’s family. They are in my thoughts and prayers and I know this will be the same for so many others as well. There is only one side to be on in this situation and that is the side of Olivia and her family. We are all with them. You’ll Never Walk Alone.”
Olivia Pratt-Korbel was shot dead on Monday night after a gunman chased his intended target, who has been named as convicted burglar Joseph Nee, into the family home in Dovecot, Liverpool, also injuring her mother, Cheryl, 46.
Merseyside police issued a pre-match appeal for information after the release on bail of two men arrested on suspicion of murder.
