The killing of a woman in a Christmas Eve pub shooting in Liverpool comes just months after the city was rocked by three-high profile incidents.
The 26-year-old was with her sister and friends at the Lighthouse in Wallasey Village on Merseyside when she was shot on Saturday evening.
Earlier this year three fatal shootings happened within a week, killing nine-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel in Dovecot, Ashley Dale, 28, in Old Swan, and Sam Rimmer, 22, in Dingle, between August 16 and 22.
– Olivia Pratt-Korbel
Olivia was fatally shot by a gunman who chased convicted burglar Joseph Nee into her home in Dovecot on August 22.
Her mother, Cheryl Korbel, 46, was also injured in the shooting, which happened just after 10pm.
Detectives have confirmed that a .38 revolver was the weapon that killed Olivia.
Thomas Cashman, 34, pleaded not guilty to the murder of the nine-year-old at Liverpool Crown Court.
– Ashley Dale
Ms Dale was found with a gunshot wound in the back garden of her home in Old Swan on August 21.
The environmental health officer for Knowsley Council is not believed to have been the intended target of the killing.
Fifteen arrests have been made in connection with Ms Dale’s murder and all of those people remain on conditional bail or under investigation.
– Sam Rimmer
Mr Rimmer was killed in Dingle on August 16, when shots were fired at his group of friends by people on electric bikes.
He was taken to the Royal Liverpool University Hospital just before midnight but despite medical intervention was confirmed as having died at about 1am.
Merseyside Police Detective Chief Inspector Steve McGrath said the suspects in Mr Rimmer’s shooting had been traced from the scene in Lavrock Bank at 11.36pm to Hunts Cross Avenue, near the junction of Whitney Place, Woolton, where they were last seen at 12.04am.
Four males, aged between 17 and 23, have previously been arrested on suspicion of Mr Rimmer’s murder and remain on conditional bail.
