Student Aya shot in chest
STUDENT Aya Hachem died from a gunshot wound to her chest, a postmortem has found.
Three men remained in police custody on suspicion of murder following the death of the 19-year-old Salford University student in Blackburn.
Detectives said they are aware of a number of videos online of the incident, and are urging people to report them as they could be used as evidence. Aya was out shopping close to the Lidl supermarket on King Street at around 3pm on Sunday when she was fatally shot.
Police believe she was gunned down by the occupants of a light silver or green Toyota Avensis which drove past her. A car was recovered by police on Sunday on Wellington Road.
Detectives believe Aya was not the intended target of the attack.
Yesterday, three men aged 39, 33 and 36, from Blackburn were detained. They remained in custody for questioning.
Senior investigating officer, Det Supt Andy Cribbin, from Lancashire Constabulary’s Force Major Investigation Team, said: “Our determination to find who was responsible for the death of Aya continues and we have a large team of detectives working on the inquiry.
“We know that a lot of people have expressed their support for the police investigation and I would like to thank them for that.
“However, we know of a number of videos of the incident are on social media and it is important that people formally report these to us as they are potential evidence.
“We would also ask people, even if they are well intentioned, not to share these videos out of respect for Aya and her family.
“Similarly, I would urge people not to speculate online about the cause of the incident and to instead share what they know with us, as their information could prove vital.”
There was a large police presence around the area following the shooting. Det Supt Cribbin said: “I would also like to stress again that we are not treating the shooting as terrorism-related or a raciallymotivated.” Any information or video footage can be sent to Lancashire Police’s major incident portal at http://orlo.uk/Nfxls
Anybody with information can call Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.