Liverpool shooting: Murder investigation begins after nine-year-old girl is killed

A gunman burst into a home overnight and murdered a nine-year-old girl before blasting two more people less than 48 hours after a council worker was shot dead ‘by mistake’ in the latest horrifying spate of gun violence in Liverpool.

The schoolgirl, who has not been identified, was shot in the chest in a house on Kingsheath Avenue just before 10pm. It is the latest tragedy to hit a community already reeling from the murder of  28-year-old Ashley Dale in the back garden of a home on Sunday in Old Swan, just a mile-and-a-half away from last night’s heinous killing. 

The ‘bright, hard working’ graduate, who had just been promoted by her employer, Knowsley Council, was the victim of a case of ‘mistaken identity’, police believe. Shockingly, her 16-year-old brother, Lewis, was himself also shot dead seven years before by a gang who mistook him for a rival. 

Police have not linked the siblings’ killings, nor to they believe Ms Dale’s death is linked to the young girl’s murder.  

In a separate incident, a woman in her 50s was also stabbed to death last night in a pub car park in Kirkby, a town on Merseyside. 

Liverpool has suffered from gun violence for decades and, chillingly, yesterday’s murder happened 15 years to the day since 11-year-old Rhys Jones was shot dead while walking home from football practice. 

Assistant Chief Constable Jenny Sims called the girl’s death a ‘truly shocking incident’ and ‘abhorrent’ to the local community. She added: ‘No parent should ever have to suffer the loss of a child in these dreadful circumstances.’

The child suffered critical injuries and died in hospital. A man was also shot in the body while a woman also suffered gunshot wounds to the hand. Both are in hospital being treated. 

Officers and sniffer dogs are now hunting down the gunman and running door to door enquiries after they cordoned off a large area around the home in the Knotty Ash area of the city.    

One resident, who did not want to be named, said: ‘It’s really disgusting and it will not be tolerated around here.

‘I believe because a child was involved people will name the culprit and he deserves to be named because he is a coward.’

Another local described hearing four gunshots last night, while a woman, who asked not to be named, said the tragedy made her worry for her own children.  

‘It’s devastating. It can’t carry on like this,’ she said. ‘I have four boys and for this to happen on our own doorstep is shocking. The streets here are always full of kids playing.’ 

Police said house-to-house, CCTV and forensic enquiries are in the process of being carried out, while a cordon is also in place.

Assistant Chief Constable Sims added: ‘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 enquiry 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.’

Ms Dale was gunned down outside the property in the Old Swan area of Liverpool shortly after midnight on Sunday. No arrests have yet been made.

Thugs are thought to have burst through the door of her £70,000 three-bedroom terraced home, where she ‘lived largely on her own’, and sprayed bullets inside.

Police were called by neighbours reporting the sound of what they thought were gunshots or fireworks, and officers found graduate Miss Dale in the back garden.

Merseyside Police believe the property was purposefully targeted, but Miss Dale was not the intended victim. She was treated at the scene but died later in hospital.

A car was found with flat tyres outside, with police saying it was used by Miss Dale and registered to her family. The vehicle has now been removed to be examined.

In a statement, Ms Dale’s family said on Monday: ‘Ashley, our girl – our shining light. Our hearts are broken into a million pieces. Ashley was a hard-working young woman who had her entire life ahead of her.

‘She had just been promoted at her job with Knowsley Council. She had a degree and so many plans for her bright future that had only just begun. Her laugh, smile and energy was infectious in any room.

‘We can’t come to terms with how this would happen to a defenceless woman in her own home. None of this makes sense and our lives will never be the same again. A senseless crime that has torn a family apart. Justice needs to be brought.’

It comes seven years after her own brother Lewis Dunne was shot dead aged 16 by a gang who mistook him for a rival, although her death is said to be unrelated to this.

Tributes were posted for Knowsley Council employee Miss Dale on Monday, including from her former colleague Carol Tunstall who wrote on social media: ‘So very sad. Ashley worked with us a good few years back. Such a beautiful, lovely young girl.’

Her alma mater, Liverpool John Moores University, also fondly remembered the 28-year-old when she was a ‘popular student’ who was hoping for a career in local government. 

Graeme Mitchell, senior lecturer in public health at Liverpool John Moores University, told MailOnline: ‘We remember Ashley as a keen and popular student who was looking forward to a career in public service.

‘She has recently obtained her registration as an environmental health practitioner and had secured a promotion within Knowsley Council.

‘She obtained her degree, despite the personal tragedy of having her brother killed. We’re all in shock at the moment.’

Meanwhile, Merseyside Police were called last night to Brambles pub on Cherryfield Drive at around 8.10pm where they found a woman with a stab wound. She was taken to hospital in a serious condition but died.

In the same incident, a man in his 30s is also being treated in hospital after being stabbed in his arm and body. 

Officers have detained a 38 year-old man on suspicion of s18 and affray while a 32 year-old man later handed himself in and was arrested on suspicion of murder.

Detective Inspector Laura Lamping said: ‘We are currently in the very early stages of an investigation as we seek to establish what has taken place.

‘We believe there was an altercation which started inside the premises and carried on outside. Sadly a woman suffered a stab wound which proved to be fatal.

‘We currently have two people in custody but out enquiries remain ongoing. I would ask anyone who was in the vicinity of Cherryfield Drive who saw or heard anything or has any information which could assist the investigation to contact us as a matter of urgency.’

This is not the first time the city has been hit by the terrible tragedy of a schoolgirl killing. In another horrific death, a 14-year-old teenage boy stabbed Ava White, 12, to death in a petty row outside Primark in November 25 last year. 

The boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was convicted by a jury of her murder on 24 May this year by a unanimous verdict and sentenced on 11 July at Liverpool Crown Court to life, to serve a minimum of 13 years.

Violence and sexual offences have been rising in the city as it has become the most dangerous area in Merseyside and one of the worst in the UK. 

There were 31,372 violent and sexual offences reported during 2021, 21% higher than 2020’s figure of 24,782 offences. 

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