Murder squad detectives investigating the shooting of a 16-year-old boy have made an arrest.
Lewis Dunne was blasted in the back and died from his injuries in hospital after being found by a member of the public on a canal towpath in Vauxhall, Liverpool on Sunday evening.
Today Merseyside Police said a man aged 20 from the Everton area of the city had been arrested on suspicion of murder.
He is now in custody and will be questioned by detectives.
Lewis was found suffering from a serious gunshot wound on the Leeds Liverpoolcanal towpath in Eldonian Village, Liverpool, shortly before 11.20pm on Sunday.
He was rushed to the Royal Liverpool Univeristy Hospital but doctors could not save his life.
His mother Gemma, father Steven and sisters Ashley and Yasmin later paid tribute to “our baby”.
In a statement they said: “Most people wait years to find their soul mate, but the day our Lewis was born was the day our hearts and souls were complete.”
“He had so much love to give and it was truly a luxury to feel. Our baby, our Lewis, our blessing. Our family is broken. He did not deserve this.”
Locals said Lewis was not known to be in any gang and police have discounted initial speculation that the shooting was part of a pre-arranged gang fight between two groups of youths from the local area.
Police said underwater search teams have recovered items from the canal including mobile phones and while they were still trying to establish a motive for the murder they will be “relentless” in pursuing those responsible.
Detective Chief Inspector Tom Keaton, from Merseyside Police, said: “We have had a number of calls from the public following our initial appeal and we are following up some really positive lines of inquiry.
“Detectives are working hard to build up a picture of Lewis’s final moments and I would like to appeal to anyone who may have seen Lewis on Sunday night. They may not think the information amounts to much, but for us it could be a crucial part of the jigsaw that we are putting together and it could be the bit of information that leads us to the offenders.
“We know from speaking to Lewis’s family that he left home on Sunday night at about 10.15pm to go to a local shop, what we now need to know is where was Lewis between 10.15pm and 11.10pm?
“We will leave no stone unturned in our search and officers are currently trawling through extensive CCTV footage to identify those responsible.
“My message is clear to the offenders – we are relentless in our pursuit of those who use firearms on our streets and we are determined to find those who took away the life of a 16-year-old boy, who had so much to look forward to.
“House-to-house inquiries have been completed and we have also completed a search of the canal and recovered several items including mobile phones and jackets, which will now be subject to extensive forensic examination.”
He added: “There has been speculation that there was an arranged fight on the night, involving groups on quad bikes, we have no information to suggest that this is the case and we are still working to establish why Lewis was shot on Sunday night.
“Someone, somewhere knows who did this and once again I would appeal to them to come forward for the sake of Lewis’s family. They are struggling to come to terms with their loss and they need answers.”
Anyone with information is asked to call the specialist Matrix team on 0800 230 0600, or the confidential Crimestoppers line on 0800 555 111.