Liverpool shooting: Schoolgirl hit by car ‘fleeing gunfire’ while trick-or-treating on Halloween

Witnesses say man was ‘bleeding from face’ after being shot through window

The girl was hit by a black Volkswagen Golf on Sceptre Road, Croxteth, and suffered serious injuries (Liverpool Echo)

A 12-year-old girl who was out trick-or-treating was left “lying in the road” with serious injuries after being hit by a car that was "fleeing gunfire".

Police said a man was reportedly shot at while driving in Croxteth, Liverpool, on Halloween night before hitting the girl.

The child was then taken to hospital, where she was treated for “serious but not life-threatening” injuries.

Witnesses told local media that a passenger in the car, a black Volkswagen Golf, was bleeding from his face and was reportedly hit by a shot through the window.

Shortly after the incident, a man presented himself at hospital with a facial injury which is not believed to life-threatening, police said.

“This is an extremely worrying incident, where the offender/s have shown no thought for the general public and has resulted in an innocent young girl, who was out enjoying herself, experiencing this traumatic ordeal,” Superintendent Paddy Kelly, from Merseyside Police, said.

An investigation is currently underway and officers have urged anyone who was in the vicinity of Sceptre Road, Croxteth, and saw anyone or anything suspicious to contact the police.

A local resident told the Liverpool Echo that they heard about two or three shots fired before the sound of tyres screeching and went outside to see people “screaming and running towards the road”.

“It looked like three or four lads got out of the car and ran the opposite way,” the man, who chose to remain anonymous, said.

“My neighbour told me that one of them was covered in blood.

“The poor girl was just lying in the road but thankfully the ambulance got here very quickly. I hope she’ll be OK.”

Merseyside Police addressed the incident in a wide-ranging statement on criminal and anti-social behaviour in Liverpool on Thursday night.

They said 14 people have been arrested for various offences, such as criminal damage, possession of drugs and public order offences.

Chaotic scenes were also reported on Wednesday, when a group of youths caused “substantial damage” on a building site where assisted living accommodation for disabled people is being built, Merseyside Police said.

They added that the youths threw bricks at firefighters and police who attended the scene.

The vandalism is thought to have been part of “Mischief Night”, or “Mizzy Night”, an unofficial tradition in which young people engage in pranks and vandalism on the night before Halloween.

Anyone with information on the Croxteth incident has been asked to message @MerPolCC on Twitter, call 101 or contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111, quoting log 977 of 31 October.