Officers were called to an address in Leinster Road at around 12.40am following reports of concern for a woman at the property. Emergency services attended and the woman, who is her 20s, was found in the rear garden of the property with gunshot wounds to the body.
Medical treatment was administered at the scene and the woman was taken to hospital but sadly died a short time later. The woman has not yet been formally identified but next of kin have been informed and are being supported by specially trained officers.
Detective Superintendent Mark Baker said: “This investigation is in the very early stages and while we understand the public will be very shocked and concerned by what has happened we have a number of officers at the scene who are carrying out extensive enquiries to understand what has taken place and take immediate action.
“A woman has tragically lost her life today and I want the public to be reassured that we will do everything we can to find who is responsible and bring them to justice. A post-mortem is due to take place to confirm the cause of death.
A murder investigation is currently underway and house-to-house, CCTV and forensic enquiries are being carried out in the local area. 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. “An investigation is underway and a number of lines of enquiry are currently being investigated.
“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.”
