Elle Edwards: Gunman looked me in the eyes, says shooting witness

A woman has described how a gunman looked her “dead in the eyes” before opening fire outside a pub on Christmas Eve, killing a 26-year-old beautician.

Elle Edwards was shot at the Lighthouse pub in Wallasey Village, Merseyside, on 24 December 2022.

Connor Chapman, 23, of no fixed address, is on trial accused of her murder.

Liverpool Crown Court heard Jaime Stanton told police the gunman went “bang, bang, bang”.

The court has previously heard the shooting was the culmination of a feud between people on the Woodchurch and Beechwood estates in Wirral – and Ms Edwards was an innocent bystander caught in the crossfire.

The intended victims were Kieran Salkeld and Jake Duffy, who were injured along with three others, the jury was told.

CCTV footage shown to the court showed a man parking a stolen Mercedes near the pub at 20:57 GMT and spending nearly three hours in the area before launching the attack.

In footage filmed on police body-worn cameras, the jury heard Ms Stanton tell an officer: “It was a targeted attack because he looked round the corner to see who was there and he turned round.

“He turned round and he looked at me dead in the eyes.

“I wanted to say to the people that were there, ‘Watch out’, but I couldn’t because he would have just shot me.

“It all happened so quick. He just went ‘bang, bang, bang’.”

She added: “I thought he was just going to batter them. I didn’t think he had a gun.”

The witness sobbed as she spoke to the officer.

She described the gunman wearing a balaclava, but said she had seen brown hair sticking out of it.

She said: “I saw two people just drop to the floor and everyone else just ran inside. Everyone was screaming, ‘Get inside, get inside’.”

In a statement, Harry Loughran said he had been outside the pub when he saw someone walk around the corner.

He said: “They raised a gun and pointed it in the direction where I was.”

He said he was spun around by the force of his left arm being hit.

“I managed to run inside the pub. When I saw blood on my arm I think I fainted,” he added.

Off-duty nurse Rachael Kelly described giving CPR to Ms Edwards as she lay on the ground outside the pub.

She said: “I remember being shocked at how much blood was on her.”

The trial also heard that, after being arrested in Wales, Mr Chapman told a police custody officer there was too much gun crime.

PC Sean Gates told the court he had been on duty outside the accused’s cell door when he was held following his arrest.

In his notes, he recorded Mr Chapman saying: “Gun crime is at an all-time high. Some people are ruthless.”

At one point, Mr Chapman talked about having a panic attack but then said he “doesn’t care about the murder, they haven’t got anything on me”, PC Gates told the jury.

The officer said Mr Chapman told him he had seen footage on the news of the shooting and it sounded like an automatic gun firing 13 shots, rather than six or seven as had been reported in the newspapers.

Mr Chapman said he had been in the area since the day before to celebrate his “baby’s birthday” before handing himself in, PC Gates said.

The court has heard he was staying at Penllwyn Lodges, where a four-night stay had been booked for him with a “prosecco and petals” package.

The defendant was also said to have told the officer he was a “changed person”.

Mr Chapman denies the murder, two counts of attempted murder and three counts of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

He also denies possession of a Skorpion sub-machine gun with intent to endanger life and possession of ammunition with intent to endanger life.

Co-defendant Thomas Waring, 20, of Private Drive, Barnston, Wirral, denies possessing a prohibited weapon and assisting an offender by helping Chapman to dispose of the car.

The trial continues on Monday.

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