Two doormen hurt in latest shooting

LONDON, Aug 25 (Reuters) Two doormen were injured in a shooting at a bar and restaurant in Liverpool, two days after an 11-year-old schoolboy was shot dead in the city, police said.

One of the men is critically ill in hospital, while the other is in a stable condition.

They were shot late yesterday at the Alma de Santiago, a South American-themed venue in south Liverpool.

Police said there was no link to the death of Rhys Jones, shot dead in the Croxteth area of the city as he walked home from football training on Wednesday.

''At this early stage police are not prepared to speculate on a motive and are not connecting it to any other recent incidents,'' a Merseyside Police spokeswoman said.

The gunman is thought to have travelled to the bar in a dark hatchback car.

Police closed Penny Lane, the street immortalised in the Beatles song of the same name, to allow forensics officers to search the scene.

Detectives are checking security camera footage and have appealed for witnesses to come forward.

''The public will notice a raised level of high visibility policing in the area,'' the police spokeswoman said. ''House to house inquiries will be taking place.'' Police have denied that gang-related gun crime is spiralling out of control in Liverpool.

Merseyside Chief Constable Bernard Hogan-Howe said this week that gun crime is actually falling. Two years ago, his force set up a special called Matrix to tackle the problem.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown pledged to crack down on gang violence this week.

REUTERS RN PM1420