A night of terror unfolded in Liverpool after a triple shooting occurred in a cinema and a newsagents, causing filmgoers to be placed in a lockdown with people urged to remain indoors.
A man was Tasered and arrested during the early hours of the morning after shots were reportedly fired at three locations on Wednesday evening.
Merseyside police confirmed that no one was injured over the course of the three-hour crime spree, and that the incident was not terror-related.
Families watching the new children’s film Wonka were placed in lockdown for 45 minutes before being escorted in small groups to their cars by police.
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Armed officers were first called to a newsagents in Norris Green after receiving reports that a man had entered the store and threatened a shop assistant.
CCTV from the News and Booze, known locally as Sangha’s newsagents, appears to show a hooded man carrying a large firearm while wearing joggers and flip-flops.
Police outside Sangha’s newsagents where a staff member was threatened— (Liverpool Echo)
At 8.50pm, police received second reports of shots being fired at Showcase Cinemas on East Lancashire Road after a man entered carrying a firearm and allegedly threatened two workers.
Witness Craig Moorhead, who had been watching Wonka with his 14-year-old daughter, said a staff member had told him a “fella had pointed a shotgun at her”.
“As we came out of the cinema screen the armed police response team was running in,” he told the Liverpool Echo, adding that the staff was in “shock”.
A spokesperson for Showcase Cinemas said: “We are aware of an incident at our cinema and the surrounding area in Liverpool.
“The safety and welfare of our staff and customers is always our number one priority and we can confirm that no one was injured.
“We would like to thank our team members and the local police for their swift responses to this active investigation.”
As a result, armed officers and local police asked people to remain indoors as the authorities continue to search for the gunman.
Shortly before 5am, a 49-year-old man was arrested in Fazakerley on suspicion of possession of a Section 1 firearm with intent to endanger life and robbery, and remains in police custody. The area around the cinema remained cordoned off on Thursday along with a large police presence.
Assistant Chief Constable Jenn Wilson, said: “I can report that a 49-year-old man has been arrested following three firearms discharges in the Croxteth and Norris Green areas last night.
“Thankfully incidents like this, involving a single offender in three separate shootings in close proximity and quick succession, are extremely rare and this is the first time we have had to deal with an incident of this nature on the streets of Merseyside.
“The shocking and distressing impact these incidents will have had on the shop assistant, the staff at the Showcase Cinema and those filmgoers who found themselves in a lockdown situation in the complex after shots were fired outside the cinema and the residents of Malpas Road cannot be underestimated.
“Officers were on the ground immediately following the first incident and were able to respond swiftly to the subsequent discharges, and a male was identified, located and arrested on suspicion of all three discharges within 13 hours.”
