Parents in the community where nine-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel was shot dead have spoken about their "devastation" - warning "no one is safe".
The youngster was shot in the chest when a gunman, who had no connection to the family, forced his way into her home in Liverpool last night.
The shooter was chasing a 35-year-old man, who had barged into Olivia's house after her mum heard a commotion and looked outside.
Parents in the area have been sharing their horror at the incident as police launch a huge manhunt to locate the shooter.
While most decided to remain anonymous, they said the shooting was "absolutely disgusting" - and have been left fearing for their own families.
One resident said Olivia was a "lovely girl" who was “always smiling.".
They added: "I saw the police arriving late last night and thought something bad must have happened but to wake up today and find this...it’s terrifying.
“It’s a lovely community but things like this, they seem to be happening all the time. And no one’s safe anymore. It could be anyone. It could be my kids.”
Others who spoke to The Independent said they now had to tell their own children someone they spent all summer playing with was now no longer here.
A mum-of-two who declined to reveal her identity added: "I’ve had to get up today and tell my kids that the kid they play with all summer holiday has been shot dead.
“How do you explain that to children? I can’t even understand it myself.
"It’s disgusting. Absolutely disgusting. That poor family.”
Olivia – who was a pupil at Huyton’s St Margaret Mary’s Catholic Junior School – was well-known and well-liked by residents of the street where she is reported to have lived with her mother and older sister.
Rebecca Wilkinson, Head teacher of Olivia's school, St Margaret Mary's Catholic Junior School in Huyton, said she was in "shock and disbelief".
She described Olivia as "kind-hearted" saying she was "a little ray of sunshine" and "lively little soul [who was] very, very popular with all her peers".
She said staff at the school "devastated" and "can't imagine how the children are going to feel when they come back to school and she's no longer here".
In a statement released earlier, she said Olivia was "kind-hearted and would go out of her way to help others".
"She loved to perform and recently participated in the school production of The Wizard of Oz," she said.
"Olivia will be missed greatly by staff and children at our school."
The Archdiocese of Liverpool also released a statement today, saying it was "shocked and saddened to hear the tragic news".
A representative said: "Olivia was a member of our school community and... our thoughts and prayers are with her family, friends, classmates, teachers and local community."
Poignantly, the killing occurred on the 15th anniversary of the killing of 11-year-old Rhys Jones, an innocent boy shot dead crossing a pub car park in Liverpool in 2007.
The Rhys Jones Foundation and community centre, established in Croxteth in the wake of Rhys' death, said in a statement: "The Rhys Jones Foundation are devastated to hear the news that last night a nine-year-old girl sadly lost her life due to gun crime. 15 years to the day that we lost Rhys.
"This past week has once again put a dark cloud over this city and something has got to change.
"Our thoughts are with the family of the young girl who was taken last night, as well as the families affected by the tragedies across the city this past week."
