THE police force in Merseyside is “baring its teeth” at criminals following three fatal shootings in the space of a week, a senior detective has said.
Armed police and strike teams broke down front doors in Liverpool as part of a series of raids on Wednesday morning.
The action followed the deaths of Sam Rimmer, 22, who was shot in Dingle on Tuesday, August 16, Ashley Dale, 28, who was found with gunshot wounds in the back garden of her Old Swan home in the early hours of Sunday and nine-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel who died following a shooting in Dovecot on Monday night.
One of the raids saw a 20-year-old man from Liverpool city centre arrested on suspicion of Mr Rimmer’s murder.
A 21-year-old man, from Dingle, and a 17-year-old boy from Liverpool city centre were also arrested on suspicion of the murder later in the day.
The raids were carried out as part of Operation Miller, the force’s ongoing response to serious and organised crime.
Detective Chief Superintendent Mark Kameen, head of investigations at Merseyside Police, said: “We have seen a series of warrants taking place right across Merseyside in response to serious and organised crime and also, obviously, the dreadful circumstances we have seen in the past week and the three murders.
“This is, in effect, Merseyside Police baring its teeth. So our serious and organised crime element or fraternity have decided to bare their teeth last week, but we are showing ours now.
“So it’s about reassuring our communities that we are on the front foot around keeping them safe, we are proactive, we’re hard-edged and we will take the fight to the criminal.
“And it’s also to reinforce that message that this behaviour is not acceptable in any way, shape or form, and we will do anything we can to suppress it, to disrupt it, and lock up those people who are responsible.”
At one address a samurai sword was recovered from a bedroom, and a blue scrambler style motorbike was removed from the back yard and loaded onto a recovery van.
A number of drugs were also found in searches, including 73 plants at a property in Stoneycroft and a large quantity of Class A drugs at an address in Croxteth.
Four men and one women were arrested on suspicion of drug offences, police said.
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