Mourners gathered in Liverpool Thursday for a church service and funeral of 11-year-old Rhys Jones, gunned down two weeks ago by a what police believe is a teenage suspect who is still at large.

The parents of Rhys, who was a keen football fan, have asked people to wear bright colours and football shirts of local club Everton to "celebrate his life."

Police have detained more than 15 suspects in the case, but all have been released without charge, as investigators complain they are meeting a "wall of silence" from the local community.

Rhys's parents, Melanie, 41, and Stephen, 44, have said they will move from the northwestern English port's Croxteth neighbourhood after their son died there on the way home from soccer practice on August 22.

The Anglican Bishop of Liverpool, James Jones, who was conducting the service, said the grieving parents had been "greatly buoyed by the solidarity" shown to them by citizens of Liverpool.

The cathedral service was being followed by a private funeral. dpa at sc