A primary school has warned children must be accompanied to school with an adult after a gunman opened fire next to a busy takeaway.
There was a huge police presence on Townfield Close, Prenton after emergency services responded to reports a gun had been fired outside the shops.
It is believed that a gunman opened fire from a car in the car park before a huge police response swooped on the scene.
A witness to the shooting said that around eight shots were fired at the window of Casa Mia takeaway.
There were no reported injuries or arrests.
Following the night of violence, a teacher at nearby Townfield Primary School said it was "very frightening it happened in our community" and sent a stark warning to parents.
In a post on the school's Facebook page, teacher Mrs Durham said: "As many of you will be aware there has been a shooting incident at Townfield shops.
"Fortunately no one has been hurt but it is still very frightening that this has happened in our community.
"We will not be releasing any children at the end of the day without an adult to collect them."
Merseyside Police placed a large cordon at the scene after the shooting, and are expected to be there for most of Friday morning.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the force said: "Detectives are appealing for information following a firearms discharge in Prenton.
"At around 8.25pm, it was reported that a gun had been discharged from a car at a customer who was in a local takeaway on Townfield Close.
"Patrols attended and carried out a search of the area. A window of the takeaway suffered damage consistent with a firearms discharge.
"House-to-house enquiries are underway and officers will be looking at CCTV from the area in a bid to identify the offenders."
Chief Inspector George Phillips said: “We are in the very early stages of the investigation but I can confirm that officers remain in the area while we try to establish the full circumstances surrounding this incident.
"There have been no reports of any injuries.
"This happened in a residential area and we cannot let people think this is acceptable and that they can get away with this.
"We need help from the local community to identify those responsible so we can take the offenders off the streets and put them before the courts.
“I would appeal to anyone who heard or saw any suspicious behaviour, or maybe saw a light coloured car in the area to please get in touch.
"Gun crime is unacceptable in our communities and any information, no matter how small, may assist us in identifying those responsible."
Anyone who witnessed the incident or has any dashcam or CCTV footage from the area is asked to contact @MerPolCC, 101 quoting ref. 0868 of 12 December, or @CrimestoppersUK anonymously on 0800 555 111.
