A man has died and two others have been injured after a masked gunman opened fire in a busy Liverpool pub.

All three people were taken to hospital after the incident, which police believe was a deliberate attack, on Tuesday night.

Raymond Craven, 27, from Old Swan, Liverpool, died in hospital from his injuries.

The gunman burst in to the Thatched House pub in Wavertree where 30 people were drinking.

It was not a case of an offender entering a pub and firing at random

Acting Chief Superintendent Nick Housley

Detectives said there was no clear motive for the shootings, but they did not believe it was a random attack.

A spokeswoman for Merseyside Police said that they did not know if Mr Craven was an innocent bystander.

She said: "He was stood with a group of about four people, and someone in that group was targeted.

"But whether it was Mr Craven or not, we cannot say."

Emergency surgery

The gunman escaped in a silver Subaru car, which was reportedly found burnt out a short time later in Greenbank Park.

A 37-year-old man who suffered serious abdomen injuries in the attack, underwent emergency surgery in hospital.

The third victim, a 31-year-old man, was hit in the knee. He was released from hospital after treatment.

'Not random'

Acting Chief Superintendent Nick Housley, of Merseyside Police, said: "This was an organised shooting of a particular group of individuals.

"It was not a case of an offender entering a pub and firing at random."

Armed officers were in the area following the incident, as the search for the gunman continued.

Police are appealing for witnesses who may have seen anyone behaving suspiciously in the area at the time of the shooting.