Haukur Gudnason
::President Scouser::
A Liverpool Football Club reserve player was among three men shot in an incident in the city centre in the early hours of Sunday, the BBC has learned. John Otsemobor - who has made one first team appearance for the Reds - was with two other men in a bar in Slater Street when a gunman opened fire at about 0130 BST.
The 20-year-old, from the Speke area of the city, was hit in the buttocks.
Liverpool FC said the player had seen the club doctor and would be out of action for three to four weeks.
An 18-year-old man was also hit in the hand while a 24-year-old man was shot in the leg about 20 minutes later, 100 metres away.
'Busy street'
They were all taken to the Royal Liverpool Hospital. The man with leg injuries remained in hospital but the others were released following treatment.
Merseyside Police said they believed the incident was linked to an argument that occurred earlier in the evening.
The shooting happened while police were mounting high-profile patrols in the city centre after a number of violent incidents in recent weeks.
A spokeswoman said: "This latest incident has to be put in context.
"Slater Street is one of the busiest streets in the city centre and is a sea of people. Police officers can't see six or seven people in front of them.
Gang feud
"Between 80,000 and 100,000 people come out in Liverpool and more than 90% of them would have no idea anything had happened."
She added that the gun involved was a small calibre weapon.
Recent weeks have seen a feud between rival gangs escalate, resulting in two violent incidents.
A car bomb exploded on 20 September outside Club 051 and a nail bomb, which failed to go off, was thrown into the Dickie Lewis bar in Kirkdale on 27 September.
Police had staged high-profile patrols this weekend in the city centre in a bid to persuade the public that they are safe.
They closed off several streets to cars, including Slater Street, Fleet Street and Wood Street.
slater street of all, best street in the city centre
bit strange really that Carra is out for 6 months after gettting kicked and Ostembor is out for 4 weeks after getting shot!!
bad news, thank god he's ok