A 49-YEAR-OLD man has been charged over a shooting spree in Liverpool.

       A gunman stormed a shop and the Showcase Cinema de Lux in Liverpool on Wednesday night while terrified families watched Wonka.

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       CCTV shows the gunman attempting to rob a shop 4

       The scene after the horror shooting in Liverpool 4

       The first report of gunshots was received from a shop, with further incidents outside a cinema and at a nearby property in the city on Wednesday night. No-one was injured.

       Leslie Garrett, of Ternhall Road, Liverpool, has been charged with one count of possession of a firearm to endanger life, two of possession of a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence and one count of attempted robbery.

       He also faces one charge of possession of ammunition without a certificate.

       He will appear at Liverpool Magistrates' Court on Saturday.

       Craig Moorhead, 35, who took his daughter to see Wonka said he was kept in the cinema for 45 minutes.

       Speaking to the Liverpool Echo he said : "As we came out of the cinema screen the armed police response team was running in.

       "I was talking to the girl on the desk, apparently a fella had pointed a shotgun at her. She was in shock and could hardly speak.

       "The woman said he was wearing flipflops or something."

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       Assistant Chief Constable Jenn Wilson, said: “I can report that a 49-year-old man has been arrested following three firearms discharges in the Croxteth and Norris Green areas last night.

       TIMELINE OF EVENTS

       8pm - News and Booze store on Lower House Lane, Norris Green

       A man threatened the store assistant and demanded cash before firing a gun and leaving the store empty handed.

       The shop assistant was not injured during the incident, but extremely distressed by the ordeal. No damage was caused to the shop.

       8.50pm - Showcase Cinema on Stonedale retail park in Croxteth

       A man armed with a gun entered the cinema complex and threatened two members of staff in the foyer, before leaving.

       When he got outside he fired a number of shots in the air before escaping in a car.

       No one was injured during this incident and no damage was caused.

       10.20pm - Malpas Road

       More gunshots are heard. No one was injured during the incident.

       4.46am - Fazakerley

       Armed police arrested a 49-year-old man at a property on suspicion of possession of a Section 1 firearm with intent to endanger life and robbery.

       "Thankfully incidents like this, involving a single offender in three separate shootings in close proximity and quick succession, are extremely rare and this is the first time we have had to deal with an incident of this nature on the streets of Merseyside.

       "The shocking and distressing impact these incidents will have had on the shop assistant, the staff at the Showcase Cinema and those filmgoers who found themselves in a lockdown situation in the complex after shots were fired outside the cinema and the residents of Malpas Road cannot be underestimated."

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       Families had been watching Wonka at the Showcase Cinema de Lux in Liverpool