Woman shot dead in Liverpool was not intended target: police

Ashley Dale, the 28-year-old woman who was shot dead at her house in Liverpool on Sunday, "was not the intended target of the attack," according to police.

The tragic incident took place seven years after her 16-year-old stepbrother, Lewis Dunne, was also killed in similar circumstances in 2015. The police believe that Dale was not the intended target and that she was just "an innocent member of the public" who had been "callously and thoughtlessly shot."

Dale was in her garden on Sunday when the attackers barged through the front door of her house and fired "indiscriminately" at her. She was rushed to a local hospital by first responders but could not be saved.

"She was a young, innocent woman enjoying her life. So, we do not believe, at this time, that Ashley was in any way involved in this. We believe the property was being targeted. And the reasons for that are part of our investigation now as we move forward," Detective Chief Superintendent Mark Kameen, told the Liverpool Echo.

However, he clarified that the investigation has just begun and the police are open to any new pieces of information or theories. He added that the police were particularly looking for information about a vehicle which was seen being driven erratically on nearby Prescot Road.

The police have also ruled out any link between Dale and her stepbrother's murder years ago, adding that there was no evidence to suggest that there was any connection between the two crimes.

Dunne was walking along the Leeds-Liverpool canal in Eldonian Village when he was shot by a group of drug dealers who thought he was their rival. The trio mistook him for their rival because he had "curly hair," similar to the man they were trying to attack. The perpetrators were sentenced to 88 years in prison in November 2016 for Dunne's murder.

The latest shooting incident comes four days after a 22-year-old man was also shot dead in Dingle on Tuesday night. These were the first murders involving firearms in over a year in Merseyside.

"Merseyside Police is incredibly shocked, both to have this crime and the fact that this is a second firearms discharge homicide in such a short space of time," added Detective Kameen.