The brother of a woman who died in a Liverpool shooting on Sunday was also shot dead in a case of mistaken identity.
Ashley Dale, 28, who worked in the environmental health team at Knowsley Council, was found fatally wounded in the back garden of a house in Old Swan, Liverpool, early on Sunday morning.
It is believed that Ms Dale was not the intended victim.
The shooting comes after her younger brother, Lewis Dunne, was killed in 2015 aged 16 when a gang mistook him for a member of a rival gang.
Ashley Dale
Family handout
Speaking after the incident on Sunday, Ms Dale’s family condemned the killing as a “senseless crime”.
In a statement released through Merseyside Police, her family said: “Ashley, our girl – our shining light.
“Our hearts are broken into a million pieces.
“Ashley was a hard-working young woman, who had her entire life ahead of her.
“She had just been promoted at her job with Knowsley Council. She had a degree and so many plans for her bright future that had only just begun.
“Her laugh, smile and energy was infectious in any room.
“We can’t come to terms with how this would happen to a defenceless woman in her own home.
Lewis Dunne
Merseyside Police
“None of this makes sense and our lives will never be the same again.
“A senseless crime that has torn a family apart. Justice needs to be brought.”
Officers were called just after 12.40am on Sunday to a house on Leinster Road and found a woman in the rear garden of the property with injuries to her body consistent with gunshot wounds.
She received medical treatment at the scene but was taken to hospital where she was later pronounced dead.
Detective Chief Superintendent Mark Kameen said: “This clearly was a very shocking incident which has led to the death of a young woman.
“I understand how frightening incidents like this can seem to ordinary members of the public, and in the coming hours and days we will be speaking to people living in the local and wider community to reassure them of the ongoing work we are doing to find the person or people responsible.
“Gun crime has no place on the streets of Merseyside and we will leave no stone unturned to bring those responsible for justice.
“The community, as always, are our eyes and ears and we know that there may be people living locally who saw or heard something in the early hours which may prove to be significant to our investigation.
“I would urge those people to please come forward and tell us what they know.
“If you live or work locally and have private CCTV or a Ring doorbell please check it to see if it captured anything which may assist us.
“Similarly I would ask taxi and delivery drivers if they were driving in the area to check their dashcam footage.
“We are particularly keen to find anyone who saw a vehicle being driven erratically in the area around Prescot Road."
