A police chief has renewed an appeal for anyone with information on the Christmas Eve shooting of Elle Edwards to come forward as detectives continue to question two people.
Deputy Chief Constable Ian Critchley, of Merseyside Police, addressed the media on Wednesday outside the Lighthouse pub in Wallasey Village, Wirral, where the 26-year-old was fatally shot shortly before midnight on Saturday, December 24th.
On Monday, a 30-year-old man from Tranmere was arrested on suspicion of murder and attempted murder, while a 19-year-old woman from Rock Ferry was arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to murder.
Mr Critchley said: “We have two people in custody already, they are on warrants of further detention, but I am still appealing for information in relation to anybody who knows who the person was responsible for pulling that trigger in the most indiscriminate, most appalling way, anybody who knows where the weapon is, anybody who has harboured or has any information at all.
“We still want to hear from them.”
Mr Critchley said investigators were working “round the clock” to work out what happened before, during and after the attack.
He said: “We have made great strides forward, but I am appealing for further information.”
He said work was ongoing to establish whether the weapon used in the attack, which injured four men, could be connected to any other incidents.
The people who killed Elle Edwards are cowards.
Anyone involved in this shooting deserves to see every Christmas behind bars.
We will be relentless in our commitment to find justice for Elle and her family.
If you have any info you can contact @MerPolCC or @CrimestoppersUK. pic.twitter.com/9HwxTknrNU— Merseyside Police (@MerseyPolice) December 28, 2022
A 28-year-old man from Beechwood in Wirral remains in a critical condition following the shooting, Mr Critchley said.
Asked whether the attack could be linked to an ongoing feud between gangs in Wirral, Mr Critchley said: “We have seen over a number of months some level of escalation here.
“There has been real relentless activity in relation to the arrest of a number of people who are now behind bars or remanded in custody, significant seizures of drugs and weapons.”
He urged families of those involved in organised crime to come forward and said: “You have blood on your hands too if you’re a bystander or if you want to live off the profits being gained.”
Police have said Ms Edwards was not believed to be the intended target of the attack.
Mr Critchley said: “Over the last few years we’ve seen the lowest number of (firearm) discharges in Merseyside but one discharge is one too many and clearly this is not the first time in Merseyside we’ve seen fatalities, particularly those caught up who were in the right place at the right time, the offenders were not – they were doing the wrong things that can’t be tolerated in our society.”
He said officers would work “relentlessly” to find out who was responsible.
He said: “We will not rest until we bring the offenders to justice.”
