Police link Ellis Cox tragic murder to a prior Walton shooting, revealing the same firearm was used. Ellis was an innocent victim.
This weekend would have been his 20th birthday. He’d been cycling with friends in Aintree, when a gang on electric bikes opened fire.
Even though Ellis was an innocentun that killed Ellis Cox | ITV News
It bystander, police have confirmed the same self-loading pistol – had been used in a different shooting three months before in Walton.
Police are linking the murder of Ellis Cox with a gun attack on a house in Willowdale Road, WaltonCredit: Liverpool Echo
Ellis Cox was just 19 when he was shot at around 10.50pm on June 23 last year. Police say Ellis had been with four friends when they were approached by one to three males on two electric bikes by the Liverpool Loop Line near Taskers on the Liver Industrial estate.
One of the group opened fire and pumped three shots towards Ellis and his friends.
Ellis, who was on a pedal bike, attempted to cycle away from the scene but was fatally shot in the back. One of his friends was also hit in the foot.
The shooting of Ellis came against the backdrop of a number of incidents of violence in the Walton and Aintree area in the 12 to 18 months before his murder.
Senior Investigating office Detective Chief Inspector Steve McGrath said “I can’t categorically link them all but I can link one when the firearm was used to target an address in the Walton area. It was the same firearm used.
“There is a backdrop or localised street level drug dealing and I have no doubt that will be one of the reasons this has happened.
“We don’t normally have people running around the streets of Liverpool with a firearm. There is normally a backdrop and that is normally street level dealing and people trying to protect their turf, for want of a better expression.
“I think that has something to do with this in relation to the people being targeted as part of the shooting. But I would like to stress and confirm that this doesn’t involve Ellis. He is definitely an innocent party.”The previous shooting was a targeted shooting at a flat on Willowdale Road in Walton on March 29. The force was made aware of damage to windows at the front and back of the property consistent with it being peppered with bullets. There were no reports of any injuries.
