INNOCENT VICTIM OF DRIVE-BY GUN HORROR
A STUDENT shot dead on her way to a supermarket was accidentally hit when gunmen missed their target, police said yesterday.
Aya Hachem, 19, was hit by a stray bullet from a passing Toyota car as she walked to a Lidl shop on Sunday.
Witnesses claimed the gunman was aiming at a nearby car wash but missed, instead hitting the University of Salford student.
Aya, a keen charity worker, was going to buy food for her family during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan when the incident occurred in Blackburn.
Detectives dismissed Twitter comments claiming the killer was white and that their “Islamaphobic” motive was race-related.
Instead, Lancashire Police stressed they “are not treating the incident as terrorism-related and do not believe it was a racially motivated attack”.
The force added there is “no evidence to suggest Aya was the intended target and every indication she was an innocent passerby”.
Deputy Chief Constable Terry Woods said: “This was an appalling and senseless attack on an innocent young woman, whose life was cut short while she was simply out doing some shopping.
Distraught
“First and foremost our condolences are with her family, who have lost their daughter during the holy month of Ramadan.
“Aya was a much-loved family member enjoying her studies at the University of Salford and gave her time to being a young trustee of the Children’s Society.
“For her life to have been cut short like this is unthinkable and her family are understandably utterly distraught.
“We know King Street was reasonably busy at the time of the attack and there will have been witnesses who may know who is responsible.
“If you saw the green Toyota Avensis in the area or being abandoned we would urge you to get in touch.
“We appreciate people may be reluctant to come forward but an innocent young woman has been killed in broad daylight.
“We are asking all to search their consciences and tell us what they know.” No arrests have been made as yet, police confirmed. Aya recently passed her second-year law exams and was the vice chairperson of her university’s law society.
Her heartbroken family said yesterday: “Our beautiful 19-year-old daughter Aya has been taken from us in the most horrific circumstances. She was the most loyal, devoted daughter who enjoyed spending time with her family, especially her brothers and sisters Ibraham, Assil and Amir.
“She excelled in her studies both at Blackburn Central High School and at Salford University, where she dreamed of becoming a solicitor.
“We are absolutely devastated and plead with any members of the public who may have any information that may bring those responsible to justice.” The teenager, whose parents Samar and Ismael had fled war-torn Lebanon, was found “unresponsive” after the gunshot.
Armed officers, along with as many as seven squad cars and a helicopter, attended the scene. She was rushed to hospital but died a short while later. Detectives from Lancashire Police’s Major Force Incident Unit were yesterday seen at the car wash in protective suits.
A vehicle matching the police description was later found abandoned a short distance away.
Aya was a young trustee of the Children’s Society, whose chief executive Mark Russell said: “She was a truly remarkable young woman, and an inspiring voice for children and young people.”
Councillor Mohammed Khan, leader of Blackburn with Darwen Council, said: “This terrible crime has shocked the whole community.”
Friends of the teenager have raised more than £25,000 in just 12 hours to build a mosque in her honour in west Africa.