Homes were being raided by police in Liverpool today after a shocking series of gun murders across the city. The police action follows the murder in her own home of nine-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel, who was shot as she stood behind her mother when a gunman ran into their terraced house.
Olivia was fatally wounded when the masked man opened fire through a gap in the doorway on Monday night. Police said at a press conference the gunman, who was wearing a balaclava, approached two men on Kingsheath Avenue, in the Dovecot area of the city, and opened fire at them just before 10pm.
Olivia's mum, Cheryl, opened the front door to see what was happening before one man forced his way into her home, followed by the gunman. A number of shots were fired. One bullet hit Cheryl in the wrist and Olivia in the chest. She died later, prompting outrage nationwide and tributes across the city, with children holding hands in tears as flowers were left at the scene.
The shocking killing was the latest in an explosion of violence across the city - and police were breaking down doors today, reports the Liverpool Echo.
The raids came as the former chief constable of Greater Manchester Police, Sir Peter Fahy, downplayed the likelihood of criminals turning in Olivia's killer.
Questioned on Sky News about whether criminal gangs would respond to an appeal from Merseyside Police, Sir Peter said: "It’s very rare, really. This, at the end of the day, will be down to either a lucky piece of information from the public, really good analysis of mobile phone data.
"Sometimes another criminal gang will see to their advantage in a way to pass forward information which might lead to the disruption of another criminal gang. Often when criminal members suffer the most horrendous injuries they refuse to co-operate with the police or tell the police what’s happened. Because they want to exact their own revenge or just out of fear."
Gran Karen Dempsey was stabbed to death apparently trying to break up a fight outside a local pub in the Kirkby area of Liverpool. In the early hours of Sunday morning, council worker Ashley Dale was shot dead in her home, and on Tuesday last week Sam Rimmer, from Bootle, was shot and killed as he stood with a group in the street.
The Echo reported Merseyside police officers were carrying out raids across Liverpool on Wednesday morning.
Sam Rimmer's death marked the first murder involving a firearm in Merseyside in more than a year after he was shot dead on Lavrock Bank on August 16. It's understood the raids are focusing on the L8 area of the city.
One raid, in the Upper Frederick Street area, was reportedly connected to the murder of Mr Rimmer, 22, who died in hospital after a number of shots were fired. Police at the scene of the raids are urging residents there's 'nothing to worry about' said reports.
The Merseyside Police and Crime Commissioner, meanwhile, has said that the police are under extreme pressure to find the killer of Olivia Pratt-Korbel.
Emily Spurrell told BBC Breakfast: "I think it’s intense… We have pulled in support from neighbouring forces to make sure that, you know, we can put everything into this investigation to find out who’s done this. But also to provide some of that visible resource as well to the community."
She also denied that Liverpool had failed to change following the killing of 11-year-old Rhys Jones, who was shot dead in Croxteth exactly 15 years before Olivia’s death.
"I think we’re a very different city to what we were 15 years ago," she said. "The culture is very different – I think if you’d looked at before this week, you would see a downward trajectory, we have the lowest firearm discharges in 21 years."
A large police cordon remained in place today on Kingsheath Avenue, where Olivia Pratt-Korbel was shot inside her home in Knotty Ash. A number of floral tributes were left at the scene, along with teddy bears and a balloon. One message on a bunch of flowers said: “You had so much potential. We will always miss you in class, nobody can replace you.”
Officers in white forensic suits were seen carrying out a fingertip search of the front garden of the home where Olivia was shot. A car with a blue tarpaulin on was in the front drive of the property. A search also took place in the front garden of a house several doors down from Olivia’s home.
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