The evening of Tuesday, March 22 started normally for staff at the Golden Dinner Fish and Chip Shop.
As 6.30pm approached, the takeaway, in a row of shops and small businesses on Hoole Road, Woodchurch, had a handful of customers placing their orders and collecting their food.
But as owner Kevin Chen, 44, described to the ECHO, suddenly the sound of "bang, bang, bang" followed by an engine revving loudly stunned everyone in the shop. A few feet up the road, a man was bleeding on the pavement after being riddled with bullets in a drive-by shooting.
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The "targeted" attack had been witnessed by a young child, who was taken inside by a kind neighbour. That woman told the ECHO: "We heard it and I had to take a little girl home who also saw it. Poor child was absolutely petrified."
The victim was rushed to hospital with multiple gunshot wounds and while he survived, Merseyside Police said he had sustained "life-changing" injuries. Around a week later a 28-year-old man from Beechwood was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder.
That incident was the most serious in a spate of violent flashpoints that have plagued the Woodchurch estate in recent months. On June 8, shots were fired at a group of men outside the Arrowe Park pub, although no-one was hit.
Then on June 27, a group of armed and masked men stormed into the same pub searching for someone. After apparently failing to find their target, the gang fled in a car believed to be a BMW.
It is believed the gun related incidents, relatively uncommon for the Wirral, are linked to disputes between local street gangs in the area. For residents, they are an escalation from more common low-level anti-social behaviour that sometimes occurs in areas such as Hoole Road.
One positive several local people mentioned to the ECHO was the effects of an increased police presence on crime and disorder on the estate. Mr Chen, who has owned the Golden Dinner takeaway for around three years, told the ECHO: "When I first come, the bad boys came to my window all the time, but when I got to know them it was ok.
"Now you see more police here. When the police come past the bad boys run away or get on their bikes. You see the police asking them questions."
Another local man, who did not wish to be named, spoke to the ECHO outside the Woodchurch pub on Grasswood Road. He said: "I don't know what is going on [with the shootings] but they are all as bad as each other. You hear about Woodchurch vs the Ford [another nearby estate].
"If the imbeciles want to keep targeting each other that's up to them I'm not bothered. But that shooting was bad, there were kids about and everything. In the last couple of weeks it has really quietened down, there's been a hell of a lot of police on the estate because of the fella who got shot."
An increased police presence was also noted by several other people living close to Hoole Road. One man living opposite the shops said: "It's been ok recently, you see the patrol cars going up and down a lot. It is reassuring."
Merseyside Police have indeed been focusing on the estate in the light of recent incidents. After the gang stormed the Arrowe Park pub officers introduced an enhanced stop and search zone in the estate, under Section 60 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, which is designed to minimise the risk of serious violence.
The force said that resulted in 60 stop and searches being carried out and a quantity of drugs being seized. A number of other initiatives are underway to target drugs gangs in the area.
When the ECHO asked Merseyside Police about the issues on the estate, Community Policing Inspector Alan McKeon said: “We have introduced a range of proactive measures in the Woodchurch estate in order to tackle criminality in the area following several violent incidents in recent weeks, which we are treating as targeted attacks.
“We know that when offenders are in dispute, such as those who deal in illegal drugs, they can resort to violence in an attempt to intimidate others. They care little about the impact this has on those who call Woodchurch home, and we are determined to make sure those people cannot operate here and are brought to justice.
“We have increased high visibility patrols in the area in order to deter further incidents of violence and anti-social behaviour and reassure the community, and are working with Wirral Council to ensure a full range of measures are put in place in the short and long term to make the area a safer place to live."
Insp. McKeon outlined the Section 60 area but also described other efforts to tackle serious violence.
He added: "As well as stepping up patrols, we have continued police operations in Woodchurch such as Operation Presley, a day of action that we carry out regularly. During the last operation, nine people were arrested on suspicion of offences including possession of controlled drugs and possession of a weapon.
“Officers carry out land searches in open spaces, stop searches and execute warrants all-year-round to target organised criminality on Woodchurch – and this work is ongoing.
Every single day our officers are doing proactive work to remove guns and other potentially lethal weapons from our streets as part of our ongoing pledge to tackle serious and violent crime, disrupt criminal activity and put those making other people’s lives a misery behind bars.
“Drugs and weapons have no place on our streets, and Merseyside Police remains relentless in our pursuit of criminals and to bring down serious and organised criminal groups.
“I urge people that if they know where weapons are being stored or who is using them to let us know so that we can take action and take them out of circulation."
Anyone with information about who is using or storing weapons in their area is asked to DM @MerPolCC, call 101 or contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
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