Olivia Pratt-Korbel
© Unknown/TelegraphOlivia Pratt-Korbel. Merseyside police said the girl's family were 'absolutely devastated, inconsolable and heartbroken' by her death.
A nine-year-old girl was fatally shot in Liverpool after a gunman burst into her family's home chasing another man who did not live there, police said.

Merseyside police named the victim as Olivia Pratt-Korbel, who was getting ready for bed at the time.

Serena Kennedy, the force's chief constable, said the girl's family had been "torn apart" by the shooting in the Dovecot area of the city on Monday night. They were "absolutely devastated, inconsolable and heartbroken", she added.

Police said Olivia's mother, Cheryl Korbel, appeared to have opened her front door in Kingsheath Avenue to see what was happening after hearing shots in the street. A 35-year-old man then forced his way into the house followed by the gunman.

Kennedy said the gunman started "firing a number of shots with complete disregard for Olivia and her family who had no connection with the gunman or the man who forced his way in".
Olivia Pratt-Korbel
Olivia was fatally wounded and her mother suffered a gunshot to her wrist. The 35-year-old man was shot a number of times in his upper body. A friend of the man then picked him up and took him to hospital, leaving Olivia, who was dying. Police arrived and rushed her to Alder Hey children's hospital, where she died.

Korbel and the man who entered the house are being treated in hospital for their injuries.

"This is a shocking and appalling attack which will reverberate around our communities," said Kennedy, appealing to anyone who may know anything to come forward. "We need to find all who were responsible for this. Not just the gunman. We need to find out who supplied the weapon and who arranged this terrible incident."

The shooting came 15 years to the day since the murder of Rhys Jones, an 11-year-old boy who was shot dead in Croxteth Park on his way home from football practice. That should have been "a watershed moment in the battle against gun crime and the use of guns on our streets", said Kennedy.

She said residents could expect to see a significant increase in the number of police officers on the city's streets, with other forces in the north-west helping with extra officers including detectives.

DCS Mark Kameen, the head of investigations at Merseyside police, said the gunman was wearing a black balaclava, black padded jacket and black gloves. He was about 5ft 7in and of slim build.

Olivia's murder is the latest in a number of killings involving guns and knives in Merseyside over the last week.

Police are continuing to investigate the fatal shooting on Sunday of 28-year-old Ashley Dale, an environmental health officer at Knowsley council. She was found wounded in the back garden of her home in Old Swan, Liverpool, and died later in hospital. Dale was not the intended target and it may have been a case of mistaken identity, detectives said.
Olivia Pratt-Korbel
In Kirkby on Monday evening, a 32-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of murder after a woman in her 50s was found with fatal stab wounds in a pub car park. Police had been called to a disturbance in which a man in his 30s also suffered wounds to his arm and body.

Last Tuesday night, 22-year-old Sam Rimmer was shot dead in the Dingle area of the city. Police are hunting two men in dark clothing who were seen leaving the scene on electric bikes.

Last month, a 15-year-old boy was jailed for the murder of 12-year-old Ava White on the night of the Christmas lights switch-on in Liverpool city centre.

Joanne Anderson, the mayor of Liverpool, said: "Fifteen years to the day that Rhys Jones was murdered, another innocent child of our city becomes a victim to gun crime. Has nothing been learned? Enough is enough. This is an appalling act of evil. If you know something, you must come forward. Guns have no place in our communities."

Paula Barker, the MP for Liverpool Wavertree, said she was horrified by the killings. "It is just mindless violence ... it is just unspeakable," she told BBC Radio 4. "There is a culture within the city that people shouldn't grass on each other. What I would say very clearly is if anyone has any information about any of the murders in the city in recent weeks then please contact Merseyside police or Crimestoppers.

"A nine-year-old child has lost her life. This is not OK. We have to bring these people to justice. It can't drag on for years the way it did with poor Rhys Jones."

Steve Rotheram, the metro mayor for Liverpool city region, said he was "absolutely sickened" and "in utter disbelief that another innocent child has lost their life to senseless gun crime in our region.

"Exactly 15 years since our region was shaken to its very core by the tragic death of 11-year-old Rhys Jones, this devastating loss of another innocent child's life shows us just how much work there's still to do in the fight against gun crime."