Merseyside Police update on crackdown following 9-year-old shooting
Officers have updated us on the action they've carried out, a week on from Olivia Pratt-Korbel's death
Today marks a week since we woke up to the horrendous news that a 9-year-old girl had been shot in Liverpool.
Olivia Pratt-Korbel was hit when a gunman chased another man inside her home in Dovecot last Monday night.
Since then, police have arrested and bailed two men on suspicion of Olivia's murder. One of them, a 36-year-old, has been recalled to prison after breaching the terms of his licence.
The fatal shooting was one of three here in the space of a week, with 22-year-old Sam Rimmer killed in Dingle, and 28 year old Knowsley Council worker Ashley Dale shot in a garden in Old Swan.
Over the bank holiday weekend Merseyside police say their 'relentless pursuit' of those involved in organised crime has continued - with 32 arrests; 66 stop searches; 11 warrants; eight vehicles being seized and eight land searches being organised, all in the space of 24 hours
Officers say this takes the total number of arrests for the operation, codenamed Operation Miller, to 202, carrying out a total of 69 warrants.
Roads Policing officers are also out and about on major routes in and out of the city targeting those involved in organised crime using our road networks.
On Sunday (28 August) a 31-year-old man from Old Swan, was arrested for possession of an offensive weapon and possession of criminal property after being stop searched in Maskell Road, Old Swan. When he was searched officers found a lock knife and at a subsequent search of his address officers recovered more than £9,000 cash, a quantity of white powder and cannabis.
A 33-year-old man from Dovecot was arrested following a stop search when he was found to be in possession of a Rolex watch, that is believed to have been stolen.
Whilst two men, aged 18 and 22 years from Wavertree and Speke respectively, were arrested on suspicion of aggravated unauthorised taking of a motor vehicle; dangerous driving; possession of a bladed article and assault police. Officers had attempted to stop a Volvo car being driven erratically on Derby Road, Bootle. A short pursuit was carried out and the offenders tried to escape, but were arrested by officers nearby. One of the men was found to be in possession of a knife.
Detective Chief Superintendent and Head of Investigations, Mark Kameen, said: “If you are involved in serious organised crime on Merseyside we are not going anywhere soon and we will continue to disrupt the criminality you are involved in. The communities of Dovecot, Old Swan and Dingle are still reeling from the murders that have taken place in the areas they call home and we owe it to them to stop those involved in serious organised crime, which can result in innocent members of our communities being seriously injured or killed.
"Our resources have been significantly boosted by officers from across the UK (investigation, firearms and uniformed officers) and we will leave no stone unturned in our search for those who killed nine-year old Olivia Pratt-Korbel, Ashley Dale and Sam Rimmer. The actions of these individuals has also turned our attention to organised crime groups who are blighting the lives of decent, law abiding members of the community, and we are acting on information coming in to take them out so we can to make our streets safer for the future.
"Information from our communities in relation to the murders is still coming in and we are acting on all the information we receive. The murder of Olivia in her own home, the place where she should have been safest, has crossed all boundaries and detectives and uniformed officers are working round the clock to find the person, or persons responsible."
Anyone with information is asked to DM @MerPolCC or contact @CrimestoppersUK on 0800 555 111. Merseyside Police also have the dedicated Major Incident Public Portal (MIPP) on their website where you can download CCTV, Dashcam and smart doorbell footage. If you have footage you think could be crucial to the investigations you can go to Public Portal (mipp.police.uk)