A mum said she's going to be "thinking twice" about letting her children go to the corner shop after shots were fired in its car park.
Merseyside Police were called to Lee Park Avenue, in Belle Vale, at around 2.35pm on Friday, November 17, following reports of shots being fired in the street. Officers were told a gang of men on electric bikes fired a gun towards a Land Rover in the car park of a GoLocal corner shop.
The force confirmed they have still had no reports of any injuries following the shooting and an investigation is ongoing. A cordon was put in place around the GoLocal car park along with a section of Lee Park Avenue.
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Forensics officers were seen taking pictures outside the corner shop while detectives made house-to-house enquiries. People in the area spoke of their shock and disgust over the shooting right on their doorstep.
One mum said she first heard about the shooting from a neighbour on the street and rushed to collect her daughter from an afterschool club as she didn't want her walking home on her own. She said: "I left work early to pick up my daughter because normally she walks home from club and I didn't want her coming home on her own after that. Normally we send the girls across to the shop, but I don't feel like we can do that.
"They love it, that little bit of responsibility - they go together and they go across the road. Our older daughter, she's getting to the point where we're letting her have that little bit more freedom. She walks home from school occasionally and she's going to high school next year, it just makes you feel like it's not safe. It makes you think twice really."
The mum said there's not usually too much trouble in the area adding: "Sometimes we get people who drive a bit fast down the road but that's the extent of it. It's mostly families around here, the school is around the corner. It's just the shock of it. We were told by our neighbours, thankfully, which stopped us being so shocked when we got home.
"It just doesn't feel real. You expect that sort of thing in America but not over here."
Other parents in the area shared their frustration and shock at the "carelessness" of the incident. One mum said: "It’s sickening, anybody could have been walking in the road there. They have no respect for anyone else. It's carelessness, anybody could have been walking to the shop to get a drink."
Chief Inspector David Currie said: “The investigation is in the very early stages as we seek to establish what has taken place. Carrying or using firearms and dangerous weapons on our streets where people live and work will not be tolerated in Merseyside and I would like to reassure residents that our officers remain at the scene to investigate the incident.
“If you have any CCTV or dash cam footage from this afternoon that could have captured the incident please check your systems and contact police if you have any evidence. Information from our community is vital if we are to stop people carrying any dangerous weapons in Merseyside that causes such violence on our streets.”
Anyone with information is asked to DM @MerPol or contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 quoting log 513 of Friday 17 November.
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