Knotty Ash Liverpool: girl shot dead and man and woman injured in gun incident

A nine-year-old girl has been killed in a gun incident at a house in Liverpool.

Merseryside Police were called a to a property Kingsheath Avenue, Knotty Ash, at 10pm on Monday (22 August), after reports an ‘unknown man’ had discharged a gun in the house.

The little girl, who has now been named by police as Olivia Pratt-Korbel, was shot in the chest and taken to hospital but she later died from her injuries.

A man at the property was also shot and a woman was shot in the hand. They were both been taken to hospital where their injuries are not thought to be life-threatening.

No arrests have been made.

It is the third fatal shooting in Liverpool in the last week. Ashley Dale, 28, was shot in her back garden in Leinster Road in the early hours of Sunday. Police have not said if they are connecting the two incidents. And Sam Rimmer, 22, was shot dead last Wednesday in Toxteth before the two gunmen fled on electric bikes.

What have Merseyside police said?

Merseyside police they were carrying out house-to-house and CCTV inquiries, while forensics experrts are also at the scene, which is cordoned off today (23 August).

Chief Constable Serena Kennedy said Olivia’s family are “devastated, inconsolable and heartbroken.”

She added: “On arrival, our officers could see just how poorly Olivia was and they rushed her to Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, where, despite the best efforts of medical staff, she sadly died. Her mum was taken to hospital by colleagues from the North West Ambulance Service.

“This is a shocking and appalling attack which will reverberate around our communities, and I want to take this opportunity again to appeal to anybody who knows who was responsible for this attack to please come forward and give us those names.

“We need to find all who are responsible for this. Not just the gunman, we need to find who supplied the weapon and who arranged this terrible incident.”

Speaking earlier, Assistant Chief Constable Jenny Sims added: “This is a truly shocking incident in which tragically a young and innocent girl has been shot and sadly died.

“Our thoughts and condolences go to her family and friends at this very difficult time. No parent should ever have to suffer the loss of a child in these dreadful circumstances.

“This crime is abhorrent and our communities must come forward and tell us who is responsible.

“This cowardly individual does not deserve to be walking the streets and I would urge those who know anything to speak to us and tell us what they know so that we can put the person responsible behind bars where they belong.

“We are carrying out a number of lines of inquiry as a matter of urgency and would ask for dashcam, CCTV or mobile phone footage from anyone who lives, works or was visiting the area of Kingsheath Avenue last night.”

Where is Knotty Ash?

Knotty Ash is an area to the east of Liverpool, near Huyton, which has a population of around 13,000.