Man injured in birthday shooting

A man has been shot in a Liverpool nightclub while out celebrating, just days before his 21st birthday.

The victim, from Toxteth, suffered a gunshot injury to his thigh in the incident at the Marquee Club, Victoria Street, early on Sunday morning.

He was taken to hospital where his condition is described as stable. The injury is not life threatening.

Police said it appeared the man was an innocent bystander in what they have said was "reckless violence".

Supt Rowley Moore, of Merseyside Police, said: "He was simply out celebrating his 21st birthday with a group of friends."

We are particularly interested in a group of men who were seen running from the club Supt Rowley Moore

He added: "There were a lot of people in the venue at the time of the shooting.

"This is a public place and we are extremely concerned that innocent members of the public have been put at significant risk of injury.

"We will come down hard on those who resort to such extremes of reckless violence and we would appeal to anyone with information which will help us find those responsible to come forward.

"We are particularly interested in a group of men who were seen running from the club at around the same time as the shooting.

"It's believed they ran off into North John Street, where they drove off in a silver Chrysler Cruiser-type car."

As part of their investigations, police are viewing CCTV footage of the area.