A 26-year-old woman has died and four men suffered gunshot wounds in a Christmas Eve shooting at a busy pub.
A murder probe has been launched into the "shocking and truly devastating" attack, which happened shortly before midnight at the Lighthouse Inn in Wallasey Village, Merseyside.
Police said a young woman was rushed to hospital after being shot in the head, but tragically medics were unable to save her life.
She had been out celebrating with her sister and close friends at the time. Several other people are also being treated in hospital after shots were fired in an apparent drive-by shooting that took place in the pub's car park.
Four men are being treated for gunshot wounds, with one man, aged 28, fighting for his life in hospital with the other three, aged 22, 24, and 33, having suffered non-life threatening wounds, Detective Superintendent Sue Coombs said.
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The gunman shot at the front of the pub from a dark coloured vehicle believed to have been an A-Class Mercedes, before being driven off by a male driver.
It has been described as a "tragedy beyond words" by pub staff.
This morning forensics officers were on the scene and the pub was closed off, with detectives spending their Christmas Day trying to track down the killer.
Later this afternoon, Detective Superintendent Sue Coombs and Assistant Chief Constable Jenny Sims held a press conference where they revealed the young woman had been out celebrating Christmas with her sister and friends when she was shot.
They added: “Tragically the victim, a 26-year-old woman had suffered a serious gunshot injury to her head. She was taken to Arrow Park hospital but sadly passed away shortly afterwards.
“Her family have been informed and on today, which should be a day with friends celebrating, they are coming to terms with this tragic loss.
“It’s very early stages of the investigation but we do not believe that the victim in this case has been targeted.
“She was out enjoying Christmas with her sister and friends at what should have been a peaceful time.
“What her family are now going through is incomprehensible.”
Merseyside Police's chief constable also branded the attack "despicable", with witnesses urged to come forward and share any information they have with investigators.
The woman's next of kin have been informed, with her family now receiving support from specially trained officers, the Liverpool Echo reports.
Detective Superintendent Dave McCaughrean said this morning: “This investigation is in the very early stages and we understand that this is a truly shocking and devastating incident that has happened just before Christmas Day in a busy venue full of young people.
“We have a number of officers at Wallasey Village who are carrying out extensive enquiries to understand exactly what has taken place and take immediate action.
“A woman has tragically lost her life at Christmas whilst several people are being treated in hospital and our thoughts and condolences are with the victim’s family."
Assistant Chief Constable Jenny Sims said the response from people present at the shooting was 'overwhelming' as they came forward with information.
They also labelled the shooting 'callous' as throughout today police have scoured the scene, with forensic officers investigating the scene of the crime.
Merseyside Police Chief Constable Serena Kennedy wrote on Twitter: "This despicable activity has led to the tragic death of a woman & injured three others. Our thoughts are with all the family & friends of those involved."
One mum posted on Facebook: "My daughter had just left 2 mins before and said she had never seen the pub so busy."
Wallasey MP Dame Angela Eagle said the incident was "heartbreaking" and appealed for anyone with information to contact police.
She tweeted: "This is heartbreaking news - My thoughts are with the family of the woman who has died & those who are injured. Anyone with any information please tell the police."
In a statement the pub said: "Last night there was a tragedy beyond words in our pub’s car park. All our thoughts are with the friends and family of our customers and in particular our hearts go out to the family of our customer who has lost her life.
"We are completely shocked by this and are also truly sorry that we can no longer go ahead with our Christmas Day bookings today."
The statement continued: "We have provided the police with CCTV footage and our priority is supporting everyone who has been impacted."
The pub is "central" to the local community, the minister at a nearby church said.
Jeffrey Hughes, minister of the United Reformed Church in Wallasey Village, said news of the fatal shooting will have come as a shock to people in the area.
He said: "Wallasey Village is a fairly lively area, it's a nice part of Wallasey, its a nice part of the north end of the Wirral.
"We've got a lot of young people, families in that area. The Lighthouse is central in that community.
"It's a shock. When we first heard the news this morning that there'd been a shooting in Wallasey, Wallasey Village is the last place you would think of."
He said trying to find words of hope in "such a terrible situation" is challenging and acknowledged that the Christmas morning service would now not be "as much a celebration as it was going to be".
He said such violence "shows us that even though we celebrate Christmas, we're still very far from those ideals (of peace) as a society".
Jenny Hough, 77, told of her shock when she heard what had happened at the nearby pub.
She said: "I heard the shots, I thought it was a firework actually because it was nearly midnight.
"I just thought it was people celebrating midnight on Christmas Day."
On waking to the news of a fatality and multiple injuries, Ms Hough said: "I couldn't believe it, when I looked outside I thought 'oh crikey'. It's a complete shock.
"My sister's garden had been broken into. We suspect it was people trying to get out of the pub and trying to climb over the wall and into her garden to get out."
Ms Hough said she had heard the pub was had been "so crowded" that evening.
She described tight security in the area on Christmas Day morning.
She said: "I've got people here opening their presents at the moment and they've all had to give their names and addresses and everything to the police before they could come in."
Police have appealed for witnesses or anyone with mobile or CCTV footage to contact them "as a matter of urgency".
Anyone with information is asked to send a direct message to @MerPolCC or @CrimestoppersUK on Twitter.
They can also contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 quoting log 1044 of Saturday 24 December.
