UK news: nine-year-old girl shot dead in Liverpool

Police have appealed for information to help catch the killers of Olivia Pratt-Korbel. Photo / AP

A nine-year-old girl was killed on Monday night in north-west England when a gunman fired three shots at a man who forced his way into her home as he sought refuge from the attacker, police said.

Olivia Pratt-Korbel died at Alder Hey Children's Hospital in Liverpool shortly after the shooting, which occurred at about 10pm UK time, the Merseyside Police department said yesterday . The girl's mother, Cheryl Korbel, 46, was shot in the wrist as she tried to close her front door on the gunman, who wasn't known to the family.

"This is a shocking and appalling attack which will reverberate around our communities, and I want to take this opportunity again to appeal to anybody who knows who was responsible for this attack to please come forward and give us those names,'' Merseyside Chief Constable Serena Kennedy said at a news conference.

Olivia Pratt-Korbel.

"They will have vital information that can help us. The killing of a nine-year-old child is an absolute tragedy and crosses every single boundary, and I would urge them to do the right thing so we can put this person behind bars," she added.

"We need to find all who are responsible for this — not just the gunman. We need to find who supplied the weapon and who arranged this terrible incident."

Police said the incident began when an armed man fired at two other men on the street outside the Korbel home.

Forensic officers near the scene in Kingsheath Avenue, Knotty Ash, where a nine-year-old girl was fatally shot, in Liverpool, England. Photo / AP

When Cheryl Korbel opened the door to see what was happening, one of the targets forced his way into the home, police said. The gunman gave chase, firing indiscriminately into the home as Korbel tried to bar the door.

The man who entered the home suffered gunshot wounds to his upper body. Friends picked him up and took him to the hospital as Olivia lay dying.

The gunman escaped.

- Additional reporting, NZ Herald