Blackburn shooting victim was a University of Salford Law student, says charity

The victim of Blackburn town centre shooting was a University of Salford student.

A murder investigation has been launched and a manhunt is underway following the shooting yesterday.

Police were called shortly after 3 pm to reports a woman had been found unresponsive on King Street, following gunshots being heard in the area.

The woman was taken to hospital but was sadly pronounced dead a short time later.

She’s said to have just passed her second-year law exams.

ARC Project Blackburn, a non-profit, expressed their condolences in a Facebook post: “Aya, a beautiful 19 year old young woman from Lebanon, had just passed her 2nd-year law exams at Salford University and had a dream and ambition to study international law.

“Aya and her family are much loved in our ARC community. Our hearts and prayers are with them at this painful time especially during this holy month of Ramadam when Aya and her family were fasting.”

Det Supt Jonathan Holmes, of the Force Major Investigation Team, said: “This is a truly shocking and senseless killing, which has robbed a young woman of her life.

“We believe a light-coloured Toyota Avensis – possibly metallic green – may have been involved in the incident.

“A car matching the same description has since been recovered from nearby Wellington Road and we are now asking anybody who saw a car matching this description in either location to get in touch as soon as possible.

“We understand people may be reluctant to come forward during this time, especially if they have not been following the government guidelines about staying at home, but we would reassure them that our immediate concern is to find out what happened.”

Anybody with information on the Blackburn shooting is asked to get in touch straight away on 101, quoting log number 817 of today (May 17th).

Alternatively independent charity Crimestoppers can be contacted anonymously on 0800 555 111 or online at crimestoppers-uk.org.