Police have released on bail two men arrested on suspicion of murdering nine-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel, who was shot dead in her home in Liverpool.
A 36-year-old man from Huyton was arrested on Friday and a 33-year-old man from Dovecot was arrested on Thursday in an operation involving armed officers.
The 36-year-old man has since been recalled to prison after breaching the terms of his licence.
Police investigating the death of Miss Pratt-Korbel have said “silence is not an option” and have urged people to share their latest appeal for information, adding that they were committed to ensuring there was “no hiding place for anyone involved”.
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Miss Pratt-Korbel was shot dead on Monday night after a gunman chased his intended target, who has been named as convicted burglar Joseph Nee, into the family home in Dovecot, Liverpool, also injuring her mother, Cheryl (46).
On Saturday, Merseyside police reiterated their appeal for people to come forward with names, tweeting: “A simple request — share this far and wide, to everyone you know, and ask them to share if further still, so that there’s no hiding place for anyone involved in the murder of little Olivia. We need names. Silence is not an option.”
Miss Pratt-Korbel’s family have urged people to “do the right thing” and said: “If anyone knows anything, now is the time to speak up. It is not about being a ‘snitch’ or a ‘grass’, it is about finding out who took our baby away from us.”
Merseyside police have released footage from a thermal imaging camera of the moment the 36-year-old man was arrested, showing officers leading him away.
Neighbours who witnessed the arrest reported seeing armed police “all in black, with balaclavas on and machine guns” as they descended on a block of flats.
The police have also released an image of a black Audi Q3, which has been seized, and detectives have appealed for information from witnesses who saw it in the days leading up to the shooting, or have information about its movements afterwards.
The assistant mayor of Liverpool, Harry Doyle, said people had come forward with information because they “want to see justice” for Miss Pratt-Korbel and her loved ones.
He told BBC Breakfast: “Our community is still obviously extremely shook by what’s took place. There’s certainly a sense of hope and relief, with the announcements of the two arrests made so far. But the community really has pulled together this week.”
Miss Pratt-Korbel’s death — the third fatal shooting in Liverpool in a matter of days — has reopened a wider debate on gun crime, along with issues such as the impact of cuts in the city.
Mr Doyle, who is also a councillor for the Knotty Ash area, next to Dovecot, said a half-million-pound package of support announced by the Home Office “doesn’t touch the sides”.
“We’ve seen budgets decimated over the years but also budgets for youth grants as well. What our community needs is long-term solutions and funding support solutions for the kids here on the street who were Olivia’s friends,” he said.
Miss Pratt-Korbel family paid tribute to her, describing her as a “unique, chatty, nosy little girl who broke the mould when she was born”.
They added: “Although her life was short, her personality certainly wasn’t and she lived it to the most she could, and would blow people away with her wit and kindness.”
The gunman had chased Nee into Olivia’s family home in Dovecot after her mother opened her front door in response to a commotion outside. The men — complete strangers to the family — burst in and Olivia was fatally shot.
In a separate incident last weekend, Ashley Dale, 28, was shot dead in the back garden of her home in Liverpool in what police said they believed was a case of mistaken identity. — Guardian