Detectives investigating the killing of council worker Ashley Dale in Liverpool have arrested two men on suspicion of murder.

The pair, aged 28 and 40, who are from the Huyton area of the city, were also held on suspicion of possession of a firearm with intent, said Merseyside Police.

A 25-year-old man, from St Helens, has also been arrested and taken to a police station for questioning on suspicion of assisting an offender.

All three men have previously been detained as part of the investigation. The total number of people arrested in connection with Ms Dale’s death is 15.

Ms Dale, 28, was found with a gunshot wound in the back garden of her home just after midnight on Sunday 21 August last year.

She was treated by emergency services at the scene in Old Swan and then taken to hospital but died a short time later. She is not believed to have been the intended target of the killing.

At her funeral, Ms Dale was described by her family as a “rising star” who “had her whole life ahead of her”.

Family pay tribute to ‘rising star’ at funeral for Liverpool shooting victim Ashley Dale

Ashley Dale: Two people arrested after fatal shooting of council worker in Liverpool

Liverpool: CCTV of car released as police probe killing of 28-year-old Ashley Dale

Before her death, she had been promoted within the environmental health department at Knowsley Council.

“None of this makes sense and our lives will never be the same again. A senseless crime that has torn a family apart,” the family said.

She was one of three victims of gun violence in a single week in Liverpool last summer.

On 16 August, 22-year-old Sam Rimmer was killed in the Dingle area.

A few days later, less than 48 hours after Ms Dale was killed, a masked gunman forced his way into the Dovecot home of nine-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel. She was shot dead and her mother Cheryl was injured.

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