Merseyside's Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) said that a lack of resources afforded to the region in the past decade has made the police's job "much harder".
The ECHO spoke to PCC Emily Spurrell on Kingsheath Avenue in Dovecot on Tuesday (August 23), after Olivia Pratt-Korbel, 9, was fatally shot on Monday (August 22). Merseyside Police believe Joseph Nee, 35, who was being chased by a man armed with a gun, forced his way into Olivia's house on Kingsheath Avenue at around 10pm.
The offender ran in after Nee, firing a number of shots - one of which hit Olivia's mum Cheryl in the wrist before fatally wounding Olivia. A dark-coloured Audi then appeared at the address and picked Nee up, leaving Cheryl and daughter Olivia behind.