Boy, 11, shot dead in Liverpool
An 11-year-old boy shot dead in a pub car park was today named by police as Rhys Jones.
The youngster is thought to have been playing football with two friends outside the Fir Tree pub in Croxteth, Liverpool, last night when he was shot by a teenager who rode past on a BMX bike.
A police spokesman this morning named the victim and released a picture of the smiling youngster wearing an Everton football shirt.
Everton Football Club this morning sent condolences to the family of Rhys Jones.
A club spokesman said: “We send our condolences from everybody – the boardroom, senior management, staff and all the players. Our hearts go out to Rhys’s family and friends.
“It is just another tragedy and we wonder how many more youngsters we have to lose. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends at this dreadful time.”
Police said Rhys lived lived locally with his mother, father and 17-year-old brother.
Merseyside Police Assistant Chief Constable, Simon Byrne, challenged the community to help find the killer.
A police spokesman said: “Police were called to the scene shortly after 7.30pm. An investigation is underway.”
No one has yet been arrested in connection with the shooting.
The spokesman said one of the bullets hit Rhys in the neck and that paramedics had still been working on him when he arrived at hospital.
Mr Byrne told a press conference last night that “someone out there” knew the identity of the killer.
He said: “Someone out there knows who put the gun in his hand and I want your help to get the community to turn that gunman in.
“This is quite an awful crime, quite senseless, and the community holds the clue to solving this crime quickly.
“You can only imagine the heartache of the family that’s been ripped apart by quite a senseless crime.
“I do want the help of everybody out there, be it parents, community members, people who are on the streets, to give us information. Did you see the gunman leaving the scene? Did you see what led up to this crime?"
“He was in football kit so we can speculate that he was playing football with friends and beyond that we really don’t know.
“We urge anybody, particularly in the criminal fraternity, that this is quite an awful and senseless crime and please turn in who is responsible quickly. There is no hiding place and no time for silence.”
The Fir Tree pub was surrounded by police tape with officers were standing guard overnight. A neighbouring parade of shops and a large car park was also sealed off.
The Croxteth Park Estate was formerly the biggest private housing estate in Western Europe. It was built in the mid 1980s and comprises bungalows, detached and semi-detached houses.
Many residents on the estate spoke about living increasingly in the shadow of gun crime. The Merseyside police gun crime unit, Matrix, was set up two years ago to tackle the problem.
One woman said: “Matrix are always here raiding houses and making seizures, but no matter how many times they come they can’t seem to keep track of all the guns.
“The kids pass the guns around each other as if they were football collector cards. There is no mystique about guns, there’s no fear, they are just a status symbol. And now it seems anyone who wants one can get hold of one.”
