In the months before the murder of Sam Rimmer, it was not unreasonable for senior police officers in Merseyside to feel hopeful about gun crime.
The work of the force's dedicated Firearms Investigations Team (FIT), regular successes with seizing illegal weapons and high-profile operations taking out organised crime groups dramatically slashed the number of firearms discharges in Merseyside to record lows.
In 2021/2022, the number of reports of guns being fired in the streets finished at 43, the lowest recorded figure in 21 years and down from numbers regularly hitting 100 plus in the past decade. By August last year, no-one in Merseyside had died by gunfire since Patrick Boyle, 26, was shot dead in Huyton more than a year previously.
