Merseyside Police is investigating after a firearms discharge last night (Monday, 6th January 2017) in Whinfield Road, Crosby.

Police and the fire service were called to a house at around 7.30pm and established that damage had been caused by fire to the front door of the property and that a firearm had been discharged through the lounge window.

Officers are making enquiries to establish the full circumstances of the incident and are working to establish the reason for the attack.

House to house and CCTV enquiries are being carried out and high visibility patrols have been stepped up in the local area. It is believed the offenders may have left the area in a white car.

Chief Inspector Mark Morgan said: "The investigation into this incident is in its early stages and we are keeping an open mind as to why this has happened, but we do believe that the victims, who were new to the street, weren’t the intended targets. Our priority is to establish who is responsible and to bring them to justice.

"Criminals who choose to use weapons do not care about putting other people at risk or the fear they bring to their own communities. There were children in this house, including a very young baby – the actions of those responsible were hugely reckless and we could easily have been dealing with a far more serious incident.

"We're relentless in our efforts to stop people acting in this manner. To protect our communities and achieve safer streets, I would appeal to the public to tell us what they know about the criminals involved in this incident and wider gun crime, so we can take robust action and put these people before the courts and in prison.

"If anyone believes they witnessed the incident or saw anything suspicious that could help us investigate this incident please contact our gun crime hotline on 0800 230 0600 or leave information anonymously with the Crimestoppers line on 0800 555 111."