While families were sat at home having their tea, two quiet residential streets in Kirkby became the scene of shootings that left residents shocked and afraid.
A shotgun was fired at the front door of a home on Windermere Drive at 6.25pm between witnesses saw two "mopeds or bikes" leave the street and head in the direction of Kirkby town centre.
Just over a mile away, on Stocks Road, at 6.50pm a number of shots were fired at a house and a car on nearby Mossborough Road.
The ECHO was invited to join Merseyside Police and Knowsley's Crime and Communities team as they visited the Kirkby streets where the shootings took place.
One resident, who has recently moved to the Tower Hill area, said the shootings didn't initially shock him because nobody lives in a "perfect world".
He said: "Things like this are rare but they do happen unfortunately. We’re not in a perfect world.
"It’s nice to see the presence, it’s always good to see police on the street. It will reassure a lot of people around here."
The borough of Knowsley, like other areas, has sometimes encountered stereotypes over the years in relation to crime and anti-social behaviour - with the hard work and kind nature of members of the community often going unnoticed.
And whilst there are issues to be tackled within Knowsley, the residents do not want it to define them in a place that is trying to bring about positive change.
On the streets of Kirkby, Chief Inspector Phil Mullally of the Knowsley Community Policing team addressed more than a dozen people at the scene of the first shooting, on Windermere Drive.
These people had come were from Knowsley Crime and Communities team, Merseyside Police, the Fire Service, local housing associations and Knowsley Council.
Having been briefed on the incidents that took place and the work at hand to prevent them, they split up into pairs to knock on doors and engage with local residents, giving reassurance and gathering any information that could assist with further investigations.
They later did the same in the area around Mossborough Drive, which also saw shots fired on the same night.
Chief Inspector Mullally told the ECHO: "We're out with the police and our partners, specifically from the Crime and Communities team within the local authority.
"Every Wednesday, we go out into a location in Knowsley. Today is specifically in Kirkby, where we engage with residents, we knock on doors and we speak to people about crime and issues that are affecting them."
The two shootings are the reason this particular area has been chosen for this week's walk.
Chief Inspector Mullally said: "Clearly it's a concern to the local residents, so the purpose of today is to really reassure and to engage and see what information and intelligence we can get from them to assist the investigation."
Knowsley Council’s Crime and Communities team was formed in direct response to resident feedback from communities expressing their concern about anti-social behaviour and crime.
The local authority has invested £1.2 million in making tackling crime and anti-social behaviour a top priority, which includes the establishment of the specialist multi-agency team. This aims to provide reassurance and support to residents as well as and identify and follow up any incidents.
As well as more community officers, the council is investing in enhanced CCTV across the borough, upgrading cameras to HD and placing redeployable CCTV in hard to reach locations.
Some residents are reluctant to talk to them. But those involved maintain that the team provides an invaluable link to communities.
Chief Inspector Phil Mullally said: "We've found that residents are really forthcoming with information and that has led to fantastic results for the police and the partners.
"It's led to warrants being executed and the recovery of drugs and people being arrested because ultimately people don't want crime on their doorstep.
"There are good people living around here who don't want crime, don't want firearms offences and are willing to speak up, be heard and be listened to."
Figures from last November show anti-social behaviour, drugs and theft are among a catalogue of crimes reported in Knowsley.
Of the 1,307 recorded crimes that were committed near the end of 2019, the most recent figures show the highest number were violence and sexual offences (443 reported). Criminal damage and arson came in a distant second, with 185 reported incidents.
Graham Morgan, Knowsley Council leader, said that after budgets and the austerity cuts in previous years, this is an area he wanted to focus on when he took the role.
He said: "We're on the ground, we can speak to the residents, we know our communities, the local councillors are there as well.
"Sometimes the residents will speak to the officers, they will speak to the councillors and they might be a bit nervous to speak to the police.
"We're getting better, we're getting more confident and there's more confidence out of our residents and our communities knowing that they can speak to us and the partners in confidence and we can deal with that information and work closely with the police."
Cllr Morgan also said feedback has been positive and that they would love to be able to invest in more resources, such as quad bikes and antisocial behavior officers and police officers, in the future.
He said: "There's nothing more frustrating than if you think you're not being listened to and it is trying to explain sometimes, when there is information given, it might take a while.
"There's a lot of intelligence gathering to be done, so we wouldn't want our residents to feel frustrated and that nobody is listening to them.
"The responses have been very very good and I've seen it first hand because I've knocked on the doors myself in the past and lead campaigns in Sefton. It does mean a lot to the people - especially when they're feeling a bit vulnerable or various incidents have happened in their area.
"We are seeing the results of the team working together, the partners working with each other, passing information on and I know the police have been really overwhelmed with how much a success it was in it's first 100 days that we've achieved."
If you are experiencing anti-social behaviour or are a victim of a crime you are encouraged to report this to Merseyside Police via 101 or online. However, if there is anything you would like to discuss in confidence with the Crime and Communities Team, email Safer.Knowsley@knowsley.gov.uk
