Merseyside Police
'More bell***s playing gangsters': ECHO readers slam gun thug behind Kirkby attack
Armed police swooped on a pub after a man was blasted in the leg with a shotgun
ECHO readers have slammed a gunman who brought violence to a Merseyside estate last night.
Armed police were scrambled to Kirkby following an attack in the Tower Hill area of the town.
The incident left a man in his 30s with a leg injury and shocked neighbours waking to a large area of the estate being cordoned off .
Following the attack, the second shooting in a week on Merseyside , readers used social media to express their frustration.
One woman asked "Why do people do these things?", while another wrote "Guns again! When will it all stop?"
Other comments included condolences for the man who was shot and a favourable review of The Windmill, the pub the attack happened outside which remained cordoned off by police today.
Staff were praised and the premises hailed as the "best pub in Kirkby".
The Windmill, Kirkby, scene of a police incident Photograph Geoff Davies (Image: Geoff Davies)
Paul Johnson wrote: "The manager and staff are the best people in Merseyside I love it."
Capturing the anger of others, another simply branded the incident as an example of "more b***ends playing gangsters".
Marg McEllenborough wrote: "Shocking how this kind of crime is becoming 'normal'."
Jean Kerr commented: "It's not even a surprise anymore, what is surprising is to go a day without hearing someone's been shot or stabbed."
Eve Madden wrote: "Feel sorry for the hospital staff who have to deal with this on a daily basis."
The pub was said to have been busy when the victim was struck by pellets from the single blast of a shotgun on land outside the building.
A forensics officer and several anti-gun and gang crime MATRIX officers today examined the site for evidence.
The victim was said to have been in a stable condition on Saturday.
He was the second man to have been shot on Merseyside this week after a man in his 20s was hit in the knee while cycling in Kensington on Wednesday.
Despite those two attacks, shootings have fallen in the region when comparing the first half of 2019 to the same period over recent years.
Hoping to build on that success Merseyside Police launched a gangland blitz on Monday, the action funded by a £4.2m boost from the Government.
Force chiefs hope the money will make greater manpower available to help in the fight against serious organised crime.
Detectives were set to analyse CCTV footage from the Tower Hill area while focusing on Friday night's attack.
Officers advised the public they should expect to see increased patrols in the surrounding area.
Chief Inspector Phil Thompson said: "The investigation is its early stages and we are doing everything we can to establish the full circumstances of the incident and bring the offender/s to justice."
Witnesses, as well as anyone who was passing the area at the time of the attack and has dash cam or mobile phone footage is asked to contact Merseyside Police via Twitter (@MerPolCC), by calling 101 or contacting Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.
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