A man was hit by a stray bullet that missed a seven-year-old girl by inches in a Liverpool supermarket car park.
Joseph Cowley, 24, was shot in an outrage that has chilling echoes of the shooting of 11-year-old Rhys Jones in a pub car park in Croxteth last year.
Police believe that the gun was fired from a nearby road and passed through a wooden fence before hitting its victim at random.
Mr Cowley was walking with the girl in a car park of the Tesco superstore in Old Swan when he was hit in the side by the bullet that was not thought to be intended for him.
Witnesses said he staggered with blood coursing from the wound while the youngster ran into the store for help shouting for help.
Mr Cowley, who was believed to work in the store's clothing department, was taken to hospital for treatment.
Today police were hunting four men seen who were seen in Rock Grove, Old Swan, at the time of the shooting.
Detectives believe the shot was fired from Rock Grove which runs alongside the supermarket behind a high wooden fence.
Doctors described Mr Cowley's condition as stable and said his injuries were not life-threatening.
A taxi driver told how he heard two loud blasts as he sat in his car.
He said: "I heard two shots. They were like a car tyre exploding, but he only screamed 'ouch' after the second."
"Then a red haired man came running into the store holding his chest."
A Merseyside Police spokesman said: "There are early indications that the bullet passed through a high wooden fence that separates the store from Rock Grove.
"We are keen to speak to four youths seen in Rock Grove before the shooting."
Detective chief superintendent Steve Moore said: "This was a very serious incident and I would urge anyone with any information about the offenders to contact the police.
A Tesco spokesman said: "We are deeply shocked and saddened by this incident."
ends
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