"Absolute tragedy": 9-year-old girl shot dead in her own home
A nine-year-old has been shot and killed during a tragic home invasion in England's northern city of Liverpool.
Olivia Pratt-Korbel was caught in the crossfire when a gunman fired three shots at a man who forced his way into her home as he sought refuge from the attacker, police said.
The Merseyside Police department said the young girl died shortly after the shooting in Alder Hey Children's Hospital.
The girl's mother, Cheryl Korbel, 46, was shot in the wrist as she tried to close her front door on the gunman, who wasn't known to the family.
"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,'' Merseyside Chief Constable Serena Kennedy said at a news conference.
"They will have vital information that can help us. The killing of a nine-year-old child is an absolute tragedy and crosses every single boundary, and I would urge them to do the right thing so we can put this person behind bars," she added.
"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."
Police said the incident began when an armed man fired at two other men on the street outside the Korbel home.
When Cheryl went to investigate the noise, one of the targets forced their way into the home.
The gunman gave chase, firing indiscriminately into the home as Korbel tried to bar the door.
The man who entered the home suffered gunshot wounds to his upper body, as friends picked him up and took him to the hospital as Olivia lay dying.
Image credits: Merseyside Police