A chilling warning about innocent people being “caught in the crossfire” of warring gangs was issued by a senior police officer less than two weeks before 26-year-old Elle Edwards was shot on Christmas Eve. Mrs Edwards was killed when a bullet hit the head after a gunman opened fire at the Lighthouse pub in Wallasey Village, Merseyside.
Four other men were also injured in the attack – and Wirral local community police inspector Alan McKeon had previously warned of the potential of such a gruesome incident, the Liverpool Echo reported.
Mr McKeon said on December 16: “If you have these factional disputes going on and people are using firearms out of anger towards each other, we’ve seen the last 12 months, with Olivia Pratt-Korbel being the obvious example, and even Rhys Jones before that and plenty of others in between, there are just absolutely innocent people getting caught in these people’s crossfire.
According to detectives, beautician Mrs. Edwards was not the shooter’s intended target, and she is currently suspected to have been caught in the crossfire of the attempted murder of another person.
On Boxing Day, Merseyside Police announced the arrests of a 30-year-old man on suspicion of murder and a 19-year-old woman on suspicion of conspiracy to commit murder, both of whom remain in custody. Police are carrying out an ongoing operation against an organized crime group (OCG) based in the local Woodchurch estate
Police, dubbed the Woodchurch OCG, believe they are linked, along with the Ford OCG – based in the Beechwood estate – to a series of recent shootings that left young men with serious, but non-fatal, injuries.
Mr McKeon added to ECHO that while the firearm discharges seen at the Woodchurch estate are “highly targeted”, he was “confident” that “every firearm discharge we deal with begins as intended to be targeted. “
He said the police “cannot soften” for those who are “caught in the crossfire between warring factions”.
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The senior officer added: “So for me the reason tackling organized crime at the Woodchurch was a priority; I certainly don’t want something like this to happen to anyone here.”
Ms Edwards’ death is the fifth fatal shooting in Merseyside since August 16, when 22-year-old Sam Rimmer was killed in Lavrock Bank, Dingle. Shortly afterwards, nine-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel in Dovecot and 28-year-old Ashley Dale in Old Swan were shot in their own home by gunmen believed to have targeted other people.
Merseyside Polive have not confirmed whether Ms Edwards’ murder is being treated as related to local OCGs.
However, in the past two days, procedures have been launched to disrupt their activities.
For example, on Boxing Day, the force announced it had conducted stop and search operations and open land searches in Wallasey, Woodchurch and Birkenhead in “immediate response” to Elle’s assassination.
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Detective Sue Coombs, speaking after Elle’s death, urged the public to come forward with any information.
She said: “No family should have to deal with this ordeal at any time, but Christmas, which is supposed to be a time of peace and celebration, makes it so much harder to bear. Our specially trained family investigators are supporting the family during this tragic time and we are determined to find those responsible. The investigation is still in its early stages and we are trying to establish a motive and circumstances surrounding this heartless and cold-blooded shooting.
“We believe the gunman fired at the main entrance of the pub. Minutes later, a dark colored car, possibly an A-Class Mercedes, was seen leaving the pub car park. We especially want to speak to the driver of that car and ask anyone who saw him to contact us immediately.
“We will not rest until we find the people responsible for this shooting and I urge anyone who has information or believes they may have captured something important on their dash cam, doorbell camera or mobile phone to contact us.
“Our investigation will depend heavily on information we receive from the public and I urge members of the local community who have information that could help us to get in touch so that we can identify those responsible for the gruesome murder. to arrest a young woman. Christmas for justice.”