Teenage gunman jailed for life for shooting innocent girl in the neck in Liverpool
10 January 2023, 15:54 | Updated: 10 January 2023, 16:06
A teenage gunman has been jailed for life for shooting an innocent 15-year-old girl in the neck as she waited at a bus stop in Liverpool.
Rio Jones, 19, was trying to kill a rival gang member while chasing him on an e-bike, but the hail of bullets penetrated a bus shelter on Upper Warwick Street in Toxteth and and hit the girl in the neck as she sat waiting to go home from school.
The Honorary Recorder of Liverpool, Judge Andrew Menary QC, said the incident was a "planned and determined effort to kill a rival" and that there "must be a deterrent element to the sentence".
The intended target of the shooting, a 20-year-old man, was also injured during the incident and received treatment for a gunshot wound to the hand.
Statement made after gunman Rio Jones is jailed in Liverpool
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Jones, of Jermyn Street in Toxteth, was told he would serve a minimum of 16 and a half years behind bars for the shooting.
Following sentencing, Detective Superintendent Rachel Wilson told LBC News: "This was a truly shocking and reckless incident in which an innocent child was caught up in a gang dispute and it is only by sheer good fortune that this did not turn into a murder investigation.
"We sadly know the devastating consequences of gun crime, not only on victims and their families but also the wider communities.
"Sadly Jones's victim continues to suffer, both physically and mentally, as a result of the injury she suffered that day. I hope that the sentence will bring some comfort to her and her family and help her in some way with her long process of recovery."
This shooting took place on March 1st and is another example of the reckless behaviour of innocent people being caught up in gun crime on Merseyside.
In August, nine-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel was shot dead in her home in Knotty Ash, 28-year-old Ashley Dale was shot dead in her home in Old Swan in a case of mistaken identity, and on Christmas Eve, Elle Edwards, 26, was shot in the head as she left the Lighthouse Inn in Wallasey.
DS Wilson added: "I want this to serve as a warning to other people that carrying and using guns on the streets of Merseyside will never be acceptable. If you choose to carry a weapon we will do everything within our powers to find you and put you behind bars."
