A nine-year-old girl who was shot dead after a mystery gunman burst into her home was killed just minutes from the scene of another murder 48 hours earlier.
Olivia Pratt-Korbel was shot in the chest last night in a house in Knotty Ash, Liverpool, just before 10pm.
Police described how a stranger had forced his way into her family home while being chased by a gunman who fired multiple times.
The tragedy came as the community was still coming to terms with the murder of Ashley Dale, 28, in nearby Old Swan on Sunday.
She was killed in her garden just a mile-and-a-half away from where police are currently collecting evidence in the latest case.
Described as a "bright, hardworking" graduate who worked for Knowsley Council, Ashley is thought to have been the victim in a case of mistaken identity, say police.
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Her brother Lewis, 16, was himself also shot dead seven years ago by a gang who had mistaken him for a rival.
The horrifying spate of violence in Liverpool has left the city in shock as it mourns the death of 11-year-old Rhys Jones who was gunned down in Croxteth 15 years ago yesterday.
Residents have described their heartache at last night's bloody rampage, which saw two others also injured, Olivia's mum Cheryl and the 35-year-old man being chased.
One resident, who did not want to be named, said: "It's really disgusting and it will not be tolerated around here.
"It's just been the anniversary of Rhys Jones's death.
"I believe because a child was involved people will name the culprit and he deserves to be named because he is a coward."
Neighbours have also described hearing as many as four gunshots.
One, aged 19, told The Mirror: "I was in the back garden having a smoke and I heard two gunshots go off at around 9.30pm/10pmish, I came out the front, there were loads of police coming down the street and then I saw three ambulances."
A 57-year-old resident said: "Everyone is terrified.
"I’ve lived here all my life and it’s actually a lovely place to live. I’m shocked by this.
"There has been a lot more antisocial behaviour in the area in recent years, there’s always cars flying up and down here, I’ve actually been out and stopped the cars, told them ‘slow down, there’s kids playing on here’.
"But for someone to start shooting wildly they need to be taken off the street.
The girl's next of kin have been informed and are being supported by specially trained family liaison officers.
An investigation is underway and house-to-house, CCTV and forensic enquiries are in the process of being carried out.
A cordon remains in place this morning.
Police have not linked the two deaths.
There has been a spate of killings involving guns and knives around Merseyside.
The same night as the Knotty Ash shootings, two men were arrested over the fatal stabbing of a woman in her 50s in Cherryfield Drive, Kirkby.
Police are also searching for two people who fled on electric bikes after the fatal shooting of a man in his early 20s in inner-city Toxteth late on August 16.
There has been a series of high-profile cases in which child victims have been caught up in gun and knife violence across the city.
Last month, a teenage boy was jailed for the murder of 12-year-old Ava White, who was stabbed to death in the city centre after a row over a Snapchat video last November.
