Police are pursuing a “number of very positive lines of inquiry” as they hunt the gunman who killed a nine-year-old girl in Liverpool.
Olivia Pratt-Korbel was shot dead by a masked attacker while inside her home in Kingsheath Avenue, in the Dovecot area of the city, on Monday night.
He was chasing 35-year-old convicted burglar Joseph Nee, who ran into the terraced house to get away from the shooter.
Olivia Pratt-Korbel live updates: Police send direct message to gunman, saying ‘we will find you’
Liverpool shooting victim Olivia Pratt-Korbel
‘We will find you’
Giving an update on the investigation into the “brutal, callous, thoughtless attack”, Merseyside Police Detective Chief Superintendent Mark Kameen said the man had failed to hand himself in.
“My message to him remains the same: We will not rest until we find you – and we will find you,” he said.
He said that it was unclear if the gunman had fled overseas and added: “We have had a number of names provided to us.”
Nee was the intended target – not Olivia, who was at home with her mother and two older siblings when she was shot by the gunman, firing with “complete disregard” into the property, police said.
Olivia was shot in the chest as she stood behind her mother, who was fighting to close the front door.
Cheryl Korbel, 46, who is now out of hospital, was shot in the wrist. The youngster was fatally struck by the same bullet.
Nee – who was freed from prison on licence last year, it is understood, when he was automatically released part-way through a fixed jail term – suffered gunshot wounds to his upper body.
As Olivia lay dying in her mother’s arms, he was picked up and taken to hospital by friends driving a dark-coloured Audi which has since been seized by police.
Police working ‘relentlessly’
Despite being rushed to a children’s hospital by officers, Olivia died of her injuries in what police have branded a “shocking and appalling” crime.
Mr Kameen said Nee remains in hospital – and would be returned to prison once his treatment is finalised.
He said the man who was with Nee at the time of the shooting had been identified, but gave no further details.
The officer also said the driver of the Audi had been found and spoken to by police.
The investigation is “incredibly fast-paced” and “complex”, he said, reassuring the community that officers are working “relentlessly”.
Public’s help ‘simply must continue’
The gunman has been described as wearing a black padded jacket, a black balaclava with a peak, dark trousers and black gloves.
He fired shots at two men as they walked along Kingsheath Avenue, causing them both to run away – Nee into Olivia’s house.
Mr Kameen had previously revealed members of the community have been coming forward with names and CCTV footage – while Merseyside Police Chief Constable Serena Kennedy appealed to Liverpool’s “criminal fraternity” for information.
He said he could not stress enough the importance of “the wealth” of community engagement in helping officers to try to solve the crime, as he insisted it “simply must continue”.
Officers from Merseyside Police have been carrying out a series of raids targeting gun crime in the city – as tributes continue to pour in for the schoolgirl.
‘She had a beautiful smile’
Olivia went to St Margaret Mary’s Catholic Junior School in Huyton, where she was thought of as a kind-hearted, helpful and happy little girl.
Her headteacher Rebecca Wilkinson said: “Olivia was a much-loved member of our school. She had a beautiful smile, a lovely sense of humour and a bubbly personality.
“She was kind-hearted and would go out of her way to help others.”
Olivia’s murder is part of a spate of violence seen in Merseyside in a seven-day period.
It follows the killing of Sam Rimmer, 22, who was shot in Dingle on 16 August and Ashley Dale, 28, who was found with gunshot wounds in the back garden of her Old Swan home in the early hours of Sunday.
Convicted burglar Joseph Nee
Nee, who has been detained in hospital, will be recalled to prison for breaching the terms of his release.
He will be further questioned in connection with Olivia’s murder and remains in a stable condition, police have said.
Nee was jailed for 45 months in 2018 after he and two other men led police on a high-speed chase.
He admitted two counts of burglary, two counts of theft of a motor vehicle, dangerous driving, driving without insurance and driving whilst disqualified.
In November 2009 he was jailed at Liverpool Crown Court for six-and-a-half years for being a “lower level player” in a multimillion-pound drugs importation ring.
Anyone with information, footage or images can contact detectives investigating Olivia’s murder at mipp.police.uk, @MerPolCC or anonymously via Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 with reference 22000621566.