Her relative anonymity evaporated on Monday night of this week when she was killed in a tragic shooting incident.
When the news first filtered through I imagined a scenario rather like this one. An older relative, perhaps a sibling involved in gang crime in the city had been messing about with a handgun. Maybe showing off to Olivia and somehow the gun had gone off - accidentally killing her. It wasn't supposed to happen.
But as it turned out the truth was worse than that - much worse.
Hearing a commotion out in the street, Olivia's mother Cheryl had gone to the front door and opened it to see what was going on. That was a fatal mistake that will live with her for the rest of her life.
A local criminal on parole from prison was being pursued by a gunman. Seeing Cheryl Korbel's door open and perhaps in a panic, he burst into the house quickly followed by the gunman who was allegedly dressed in black and wearing a balaclava. It all happened so quickly. Cheryl tried to keep them both out but her efforts were futile.
Bullets were fired hitting the pursued man whose name is Joseph Nee and also hitting Cheryl and Olivia. Presumably the hitman fled away and also I guess that Nee used his smartphone to call for support.
Very soon Nee's mates arrived to pick him up in a black Audi car before whisking him away to hospital. It seems they just ignored little Olivia's plight as they helped their mate out of the house.
Later Olivia herself was transported by ambulance to Liverpool Children's Hospital where she tragically died.
One could speculate and pontificate about this terrible incident, perhaps reflecting on the nature of evil and the parlous state of law and order in one of England's greatest cities. One could theorise, rage or condemn but I leave that up to others.
At the heart of all of this is a sweet and innocent nine year old girl who had her whole life ahead of her. She did not deserve to die and besides, why did her life end on Monday night? It all seems so pathetic, so pointless. Somehow it feels far more tragic than if she had been killed in a road accident.
We are so very sorry. Rest in peace Olivia Pratt-Korbel (9)
A horrible story in a society with very limited gun ownership. They will catch him and may the full force of the law fall upon him.
ReplyDeleteWhat worries me is how our society spawned someone like him? This may seem odd but I don't entirely blame him. He found a landscape in which he could flourish.
DeleteSo incredibly sad, especially given that those responsible have gotten away.
ReplyDeleteJoseph Nee has been arrested in hospital. If he had been following his parole/licence agreement then the incident would not have happened and Olivia would still be alive.
DeleteIt's all so sad.
DeletePoor little girl, and poor family and friends of hers. And yes, poor society as a whole who makes something like that possible.
ReplyDeleteMaybe all of us are a little bit responsible.
DeleteI don't recall hearing about this on the news here, not seeing an article in the newspaper. I am deeply ashamed of the men who took their mate but left Olivia when they could have just taken her and her mother to the nearest hospital and let them out without going in themselves if they didn't want to be seen. I hate guns. More than I hate anything else I think.
ReplyDeleteI hope that such horror never comes to Adelaide.
DeleteWe have had a shooting or two here, most fights end with stabbings though, we see them on the news. Sudanese youth gangs at war with each other and probably everybody else too.
Delete"He found a landscape in which he could flourish." Like he didn't have any other options? That's sad.
ReplyDeleteEngland seems more like America every day. When will they ban guns and protect the innocent? So so sad.
ReplyDeleteGuns are banned and thank heavens there are few guns around - but availability is increasing especially in deprived areas of big cities.
DeleteAny farmer or smallholder can apply for a gun licence to control vermin. There have been several murders and suicides with guns here in rural Ireland.
DeleteIn the case of little Olivia it was the vermin that had the gun!
DeleteAn interesting analysis on TV news showed a steady increase in both gun and knife crime since 2010 which those on the "front line" of youth and community services attribute to increasing deprivation and reduced funding.
ReplyDeleteThe Tories have a lot to answer for. "Mission accomplished," bragged Johnson as he left The House of Commons.
DeleteWhat a sick and violent world these days.
ReplyDeleteIn contrast there was Grindleford Village Show.
DeleteIt was tragic, guns are not part of most households but gangs of course get hold of them. I feel for the mother who will have to live for the rest of her life with that one fatal action of hers when she opened the door.
ReplyDeleteI am not sure if it is society's fault as well, but the lesson in greed has made monsters out of some criminals, drugs are destructive is the lesson learnt. Poor little Olivia robbed of her life.
Withdrawal of funding for community police, schools, transport, youth services etc. can make some communities feel forgotten and violent crime can be just one of the repercussions.
DeleteWe endure similar horrors on an almost daily basis over here. It's just terrible and heartbreaking. Poor little Olivia.
ReplyDeleteMy picture doesn't show this but at the time she was cuddling a rabbit.
DeleteWords fail me.
ReplyDeleteIt makes one's lower jaw drop in disbelief.
DeleteThere is never any real "sense" to things like this. It is part of the horrendous lottery of life we are born into, I think.
ReplyDeleteFunny how such horrors visit the poor more often than the wealthy.
DeleteThis is so horrific. I often turn off the news when stories like this are being aired but other times, like now, I force myself to take it in and grieve for sweet, little Olivia.
ReplyDeleteShe was cuddling a rabbit when that picture at the top was taken. She could have been our daughter or our granddaughter. How terrible that the killer had become so brutalised that he could do something like this.
DeleteGun violence is on the rise world wide, in countries like mine where guns can easily be obtained to those where guns are very hard to obtain. Although I'm in favor of curtailing how easy it is to obtain guns, I still think we should probably look for the root cause of this rise in violence at some point. Changing societal norms in raising our children, especially condoning the playing of first person shooter games, would probably be the first area I would look at.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately my innate positivity has. difficulty in coping with the problems of modern society: they are too great and there is not a politician on this earth willing or able to try and sort them out.
ReplyDeleteViolent criminals prey on neighbourhoods which have no real protection under the law.
ReplyDeleteThe police are now a crime management unit, lazy and useless.
Peter Hitchens wrote a book about it years ago.
Behind Nee and the hired killer is a nexus of evil which operates without fear of punishment.
I mean Nee and his mates, the gunmen and the men who hired him.
Olivia's life is snuffed out, but all the criminals behind her murder will face a tribunal after their death far more terrible than any human tribunal.
If only the spineless Archbishop of Canterbury would preach it.
Haggerty
What a horrible story, and so unusual for England where gun crime is much less common than in America. Unfortunately, in the UK, underfunded local governments are having trouble staying on top of quality-of-life issues like crime and public services.
ReplyDelete