A 28-year-old woman shot dead at her home in Liverpool was not the intended target, police have said. Ashley Dale was found with gunshot wounds in the garden of her house on Leinster Road in Old Swan at around 00:40 BST on Sunday and died shortly after in hospital.
Merseyside Police said her door had been forced and several shots fired. Detective Chief Superintendent Mark Kameen described Ms Dale as 'an innocent member of the public' who had been 'callously and thoughtlessly shot'. He urged the community to feel 'utter disgust, revulsion and shock' at the 'senseless' death.
Ms Dale, a council worker who had recently been promoted by Knowsley Council, was the half-sister of 16-year-old Lewis Dunne, who was shot dead in a case of mistaken identity in Liverpool in 2015. Her family said she was 'a hard working young woman, who had her entire life ahead of her' and that her 'laugh, smile and energy was infectious in any room'.
No arrests have been made. Police are appealing for information, particularly about a vehicle seen being driven erratically on nearby Prescot Road. Detective Chief Superintendent Kameen said: 'She was in her own house... and she has been callously and thoughtlessly shot by individuals who have no regard for anyone in our community.'
