By Luke Traynor
The Liverpool Daily Echo
MERSEYSIDE, U.K. — A paramedic shot by masked intruders in his own home could have been a case of mistaken identity, police believe.
The 24-year-old victim was blasted in the leg after he answered the door to two ski-masked intruders on Friday night.
Neighbours said the 24-year-old was an innocent paramedic who lived at the rented Huyton house with his girlfriend.
One line of inquiry being probed by police is that the gunmen were looking for a man who used to live at the address.
It is understood the gunman and his accomplice hammered on the front door of the house in Lauren Close at around 10pm.
They threatened to harm the man if they were not let inside.
The victim, who was in the process of moving house, was said to have pleaded with the men saying “I don’t know you”.
The masked gunman reportedly replied “We don’t know you either” before blasting him in the thigh as he stood near the stairs.
The men fled the scene and jumped into a black Jaguar X-Type getaway car driven by a third man.
The brief conversation between the victim and attackers has prompted theories that a hitman may have been hired to go to the house.
Shocked residents said they rushed out of their homes and found the victim in an upstairs bedroom still conscious.
One neighbour cut his trousers away to reveal a single hole in his leg where the bullet had passed straight through.
An examination of the scene showed the bullet had apparently ricocheted against walls and landed in the bathroom.
Police are aware of previous criminal incidents at the Lauren Close property.
Around two years ago a man living at the same house is believed to have been badly injured in a knife attack.
And in March 2007 police raided the same house during a kidnap investigation led by the Metropolitan Police.
The London force made a number of arrests in Liverpool after a 42-year-old was seized and driven hundreds of miles up to Merseyside.
Today neighbours said the man who was shot had only lived in the house for a few months with his pratner who were that evening moving furniture out of the address.
One resident told the ECHO: “We heard the bangs at about 10pm but just presumed it was windows being smashed.
“I went inside the house and found him in the bedroom. He was still talking and told me what had happened.
“The police literally arrived in minutes and all the paramedics who turned up knew him as he works with them.
“His partner was absolutely distraught.”
A Merseyside Police spokeswoman said: We are keeping an open mind and are aware there have been previous incidents on this particular road.”
Patrols have been stepped up.
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