Manhunt for gunman who shot Liverpool teenager in the buttocks

Liverpool police have launched a manhunt for a gunman after a teenager was shot in the buttocks.

The attack happened on the night of 15 October, leaving an 18-year-old male with a "shotgun wound to his buttock" after an altercation in Wignall Park, Kirby, east of Liverpool, officers said.

Merseyside Police said that at 9.40pm on Sunday night it received a call alerting to a shooting in the park.

It said: "Armed police and the ambulance service attended and confirmed that the victim had sustained a suspected shotgun wound to his buttock. He has been taken to hospital for assessment."

Officers said they would carry out a forensic examination of the scene, study CCTV footage, and carry out house-to-house questioning, but also called for witnesses to come forward.

Chief Inspector Steve Rice said: "At this very early stage in our investigation, we are keen to speak to anyone who witnessed the incident itself, or saw anyone in the area of Wignall Park acting suspiciously earlier tonight. If you saw a person or persons running away from the area around 9.40pm, you could hold descriptions, CCTV or dashcam footage vital to our investigation.

"Criminals involved in gun crime have a callous disregard for other people in the community, for those families who want to live in peace, and to carry out such an attack in a park demonstrates this.

"I would urge the local community to come together to help us take a stand against the use of firearms and violence. Report anything you saw or heard to us so we can take positive action and remove these people and their weapons off the streets."

Last week 17-year-old James Meadows was shot dead becoming the fifth man to be killed by gunfire in the region in the past 12 months, according to the Liverpool Echo.

These crimes are investigated by the region's gun and gang crime police unit, Matrix. The specialist force has seen a spike in shootings over the past 18 months that has stretched the unit.

There have been over 120 shootings in Merseyside since January 2016. More then 50 people have been injured by gunshots in that period, which has also seen windows, front doors and vehicles blasted by firearms.