Pictured: Convicted burglar, 35, who was the target of Liverpool shooting that left Olivia, 9, dead
24 August 2022, 15:51 | Updated: 24 August 2022, 16:28
A man arrested by detectives investigating the fatal shooting of Olivia Pratt-Korbel has been named as convicted burglar Joseph Nee.
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The 35-year-old criminal was named as the intended target of the shooting which left Olivia, 9, dead and her mother wounded.
Nee was taken to hospital by associates who left the dying girl behind.
He was chased into Olivia's home by a gunman. She was shot dead during the chase in Liverpool on Monday night, and her mother Cheryl was shot in the wrist.
Nee was detained in hospital on Wednesday morning for breach of his existing licence conditions.
He remains in hospital in a stable condition. It is believed that Nee will be recalled to prison to serve the remainder of his sentence.
He has spent significant time behind bars for serious crimes including burglary, theft and drugs offences.
He and two other men were jailed in 2018 after a 125mph police chase through Cheshire and Merseyside, according to the Liverpool Echo.
He was jailed for 45 months after admitting two counts of burglary, two counts of theft of a motor vehicle, dangerous driving, driving without insurance and driving whilst disqualified.
In 2009, Nee was also jailed for six and a half years after being convicted of being part of a drugs gang, the Telegraph said.
Merseyside Police have refused to publicly identify the convict.
Earlier on Wednesday, Detective Chief Superintendent Mark Kameen said: "Our enquiries continue into the shocking murder of Olivia, and supporting her family as they try to come to terms with this tragedy.
"I would like to echo the words of our Chief Constable yesterday appeal to the community to keep helping this family in every way possible.
"We will do all we can to take all of these involved in gun crime off the streets, as this arrest demonstrates.
"This is not the time for anyone who knows who was responsible to stay silent.
"It is a time for us all to make Merseyside a place where the use of guns on our streets is totally unacceptable and those who use them are held to account.
"If you saw, heard, captured or know anything, tell us directly or anonymously and we will continue to act."
Meanwhile, the gunman remains at large.
Olivia's death is one of three fatal shootings in the area in the space of a week and comes 15 years after 11-year-old Rhys Jones was shot dead on his way home from football practice in Croxteth, Liverpool.
Officers from Merseyside Police carried out a series of raids targeting gun crime in the city on Wednesday as tributes continued to pour in for the schoolgirl.
She had been at home with her two older siblings when her mum opened the door after hearing gunshots outside.
Ms Korbel, 46, was shot in the wrist as she tried to close the door on the gunman while Olivia stood behind her.
The gunman was wearing a black padded jacket, a black balaclava with a peak, dark trousers and black gloves, and had fired shots at two men walking in Kingsheath Avenue, causing them to flee.
Tributes have poured in for Olivia, including flowers and teddies have been left near the scene of the shooting amid shock at Olivia's death.
The head at her school, St Margaret Mary's Catholic Junior School in Huyton, described her as "much loved", with "a beautiful smile, a lovely sense of humour and a bubbly personality".
Boris Johnson described her killing as an "unimaginable tragedy" and vowed to give Merseyside Police whatever it needed to find the gunman.
