Two teenagers arrested over 11 year old's shooting

LONDON, Aug 23 (Reuters) Two teenagers were arrested in connection with the shooting of an 11-year-old boy who was killed as he played football with friends in a Liverpool carpark, police said today.

The male teenagers, aged 14 and 18, are being questioned by police on suspicion of murder, a spokeswoman for Merseyside Police said.

Rhys Jones died after being shot last night as he played football with two friends in the carpark of the Fir Tree pub in the Croxteth area of the city.

Media reports said he was shot by a young killer who rode past on a BMX bicycle, with his face covered by a hood.

Three shots were fired by a youth, one of which hit Jones in the neck and another hit a car, the reports said.

Chief Constable Bernard Hogan-Howe said Jones, who lived locally with his parents and 17-year-old brother, was an innocent victim.

''Both he and his family are upstanding members of the community,'' Hogan-Howe told Sky News television.

''We are all determined to make sure that we sort this particular crime out and prevent it happening again,'' he added.

He called on the community to help find Jones' killer.

''Anybody who knows what happened last night, who knows who fired the weapon, who knows who provided the weapon, they need to tell us.'' Hogan-Howe said society should not allow a boy so young to die in such a way.

''We need to get these guns off the street and we do not allow people to run around and randomly shoot people,'' he added.

More than 100 police officers are investigating the case, he said.

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said she would be ''as tough as it needs to get the guns off our streets''.

She told Sky News the government was tackling the problem through increased sentences for gun crime.

In an interview with the Daily Mirror, Smith said she would also order councils, courts and childrens' services to use ''Acceptable Behaviour Contracts.'' The voluntary agreements aim to tackle harrassment and threatening behaviour after a series of high-profile killings involving young people fuelled fears that youth crime is escalating.

REUTERS JT RAI1310