Liverpool shooting: Police warned of 'another Rhys Jones' weeks before murder of girl

dailystar.co.uk:

POLICE warned of “another Rhys Jones” in the weeks before Olivia Pratt-Korbel was shot dead. A spate of reckless drive-by shootings by gunmen on electric scooters in Liverpool had detectives worried another innocent child could be caught in the crossfire.

It came 15 years after Rhys, 11, was shot as he walked home from football training. READ MORE Family beg Olivia Pratt-Korbel's killer to 'do the right thing' in heartbreaking tribute Nine-year-old Olivia was fatally shot in the chest by a gunman who barged into her home while chasing two men.

A Merseyside Police source told the Daily Star: “There’s been an alarming rise of shootings where young men, often on e-scooters, have been firing guns with reckless abandon. “In the last few months there have been several meetings at the top level where the topic of discussion was preventing another Rhys Jones, so ready and willing are these criminals to use guns in public places.“Tragically, it was only a matter of time.”In March, a masked gang on e-scooters fired several shots at a 15-year-old schoolgirl waiting for a bus in Toxteth.The girl, who police believe was an innocent bystander, suffered “devastating injuries”.An alleged attacker, 21, was later arrested after turning up at a hospital with a gunshot wound to his hand.In May, a gunman on an e-scooter sprayed a house with bullets as people sat inside.And just weeks ago, 22-year-old Sam Rimmer was walking with friends down a cul-de-sac in nearby Dingle when he was shot in the chest by gunmen who opened fire before fleeing on electric bikes.

He later died in hospital. Last Sunday, 28-year-old council worker Ashley Dale was fatally shot in the back garden of her home in Old Swan.