A mum has spoken out after a teenage girl was shot as she waited for a bus home from school.
An 18 year-old was charged with attempted murder following the Tuesday, March 1 shooting.
Only a couple of hundred feet from where the girl was shot, lives Paula Ogungboro, who became an anti-gun campaigner after her son Eugene was shot dead outside a house party.
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She told the ECHO: "My son was fatal, but [the girl's parents] didn't know that it wasn't when they heard their daughter had been shot.
"Their heads would've been everywhere, same as mine. They just need to be strong for their daughter. God's good, and I hope she recovers.
"But people who are doing this in broad daylight where kids are coming home from school - that is totally out of order. That is not nice."
After her son Eugene was killed in 2003, former nurse Paula started running workshops in schools, using the jacket he died in to teach a message of anti-violence.
The overall number of shootings in Merseyside is at the lowest it's been in two decades, but children are still falling victim to violence, leaving them with mental scars and physical wounds.
One family member of the 15-year-old said: "Is she ever going to go out again, will she be able to live a normal life not even physically, but mentally?
"This is something she will struggle with.
"It's looking at those sort of things, I would hate for her not to be able to reach her dreams and ambitions."
Paula told the ECHO: "While we've still got shooting going on, I'll carry on doing it, because this is for our kids who are getting shot.
"That's why I do it. I don't do it for any other reason. I do it because my son was shot, and it's not just about my son, it's about all our kids, like that little girl."
She thinks showing young people the damage caused by violence, helping young people to achieve their life goals, and having a better, more visible police presence before crimes are committed would help reduce violence crime in general.
Assistant Chief Constable Paul White said: "On Tuesday (1 March) an innocent 15-year-old girl suffered serious injuries after being shot as she waited for a bus with her friend and we should never have to find ourselves in the position of having to knock on the door of a family and tell them their child has been shot.
"As a result of the cowardly actions of those involved in the shooting this young girl’s life will never been the same again. Her physical wounds will heal in time, but she will carry the mental scars from this for the rest of her life.
"Thanks to NHS staff, the 15-year-old victim is in a stable condition in hospital. Following the incident our specially trained Family Liaison Officers having been providing much needed support and help to the victim and her family and they will continue to do so throughout the investigation.
"We are working with our partners, local councillors and other stakeholders in the area to reassure the community of Toxteth that we will continue to be relentless in our pursuit of those who bring fear and intimidation to their streets through the use of firearms.
"The actions of these people are utterly appalling and show the total disregard and contempt they have for the decent people of this community.
"The public response to our appeals has been overwhelming and shows that they too want these people off their streets.
"As a result of information coming in, which is complementing the extensive ongoing policing work, the investigation is making good progress and four people have been arrested since the incident.
"Our high visibility presence in the area has significantly helped the investigation and enabled us to gather community intelligence, whilst at the same time providing essential reassurance for the community.
"We have had the mobile police station on Granby Street for a few days now, which gives local people the opportunity to raise concerns they may have, and members of the public have also been popping in to chat to our officers and pass on their best wishes to the victim and her family.
"As part of our ongoing activity we have also conducted a number of land searches.
"In addition to this the mounted section has been patrolling the streets to provide reassurance, and officers from the Matrix bike team have also been on the ground to identify any criminal use of scrambler and electric bikes.
"We will never underestimate the impact that an incident like this can have on the wider community have sent letters to residents in the surrounding area to let them know about the support available and how they can contact the investigation team directly to share any intelligence, including CCTV and dashcam footage."
ACC White continued: "I would like to stress and reassure members of the public that the overall number of shootings on Merseyside is at its lowest level for 20 years.
"However, one gun in the hands of criminals is one too many. We would like to reaffirm to everyone our continued commitment to tackling gun crime, and our officers continue to work in partnership with other agencies to tackle organised crime in order to make our streets a safer place for everyone.
"We know that we can't arrest our way out of this issue and the force has invested significant resources into educating young people about the consequences of becoming in involved in gang and gun crime.
"We work closely with a whole host of partners including our five local authorities; Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service; Everton in the Community; Liverpool Foundation, St Giles Trust; Princes Trust, to name but a few.
"And together we are working to provide young people across Merseyside with hope and aspiration for the future, helping them to grow in confidence whilst at the same time giving them the ability to understand the consequences of gun and gang crime and alternatives to becoming involved in this type of criminality and potentially being exploited by older people who are only interested in lining their pockets and have no consideration for the safety of the young people they use to do their dirty work.
"We have set up a dedicated reporting system for anyone who has information ( MIPP.Police.UK ) or video footage that they can download, so that it will go straight through to the investigation team.
"Alternatively you can contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
"I can promise that all information received will be acted upon so we can get justice for the victim and her family, whilst at the same time making the streets safer for the community in Toxteth."
