Cops Hunt Gunman After 9-Year-Old Shot Dead in Botched Hit

British authorities are desperately searching for a gunman who shot a 9-year-old girl dead in Liverpool on Monday night during a botched assassination attempt, a crime that has sent shockwaves through the country.

Olivia Pratt-Korbel was at home with her mother in the Dovecot area of the city in northwest England when there was a noise outside at around 10 p.m. on Monday, Merseyside Police say. Olivia’s 46-year-old mother, Cheryl Korbel, opened the door to her house to see what was going on, at which point a 35-year-old man forced his way inside. The man—who police say was not known to Korbel—was trying to escape a masked gunman chasing after him.

Korbel tried to close the door on the gunman, but he responded by firing indiscriminately into the house. The terrified mother was hit in her wrist while her daughter, who was standing behind Korbel, was struck in the chest by the same bullet. The man who barged into the family home to flee the gunman also suffered gunshot wounds to his upper body during the attack.

As the little girl lay dying in her mother’s arms after the shooting, friends of the wounded intruder arrived in a dark-colored Audi and drove him to hospital, leaving the child for dead. Police officers eventually arrived at the scene and rushed Pratt-Korbel to a local children’s hospital, but doctors were unable to save her. Her mother was taken to an adult hospital and is now recovering from the injury to her wrist.

Firearm homicides of children in the United Kingdom remain mercifully rare, and news of Pratt-Korbel’s death sparked a huge outpouring of public revulsion and despair.

Outgoing British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Tuesday condemned her “horrific, senseless shooting.” “This is an unimaginable tragedy and we will ensure [Merseyside Police] get whatever they need to catch those responsible and secure justice for Olivia,” he added. In the year ending March 31 2021, there were 35 homicides committed by shooting in England and Wales, according to official statistics.

On Wednesday, cops said they had arrested the man who was the intended target of the shooter. His name has not yet been released but Merseyside Police officers said he had been detained in hospital and would be recalled to prison after breaching the terms of his license—rules given to prisoners in Britain who have been allowed to serve part of a prison sentence while living in the community. The attack is thought to be gang-related, The Guardian reports.

Before the arrest, local authorities said they’d been given the same name for the gunman by two different sources. Detective Chief Superintendent Mark Kameen said the Merseyside police force is “absolutely dedicated” to ensuring they have all the resources needed to investigate Pratt-Korbell’s killing.

The girl’s shooting is the third fatal shooting in Liverpool in nine days. Council worker Ashley Dale, 28, was gunned down in a case of mistaken identity on Sunday, seven years after her brother was killed in eerily similar circumstances, while 22-year-old Sam Rimmer was shot dead on August 16 by two men who then fled the scene on electric bikes, cops say.

Keeman said each of the shooting cases was “receiving first-class treatment and will continue to do so,” the BBC reports. “We're proactive, we're hard-edged and we'll take the fight to the criminal,” he added.

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