Two children were killed and nine others injured in a knife attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in northern England on Monday. Police have since apprehended a teenage suspect in connection with the incident.
Merseyside Police Chief Constable Serena Kennedy reported that six of the injured children are in critical condition, and two adults are also in critical condition following the attack.
According to Kennedy, the suspect entered the venue armed with a knife and began attacking the children.
“We believe that the adults who were injured were bravely trying to protect the children who were being attacked,” she said at a news conference on Monday evening.
Merseyside Police were alerted to a stabbing incident in Southport, just north of Liverpool.
Emergency services responded to what was classified as a “major incident” around 11:50 am local time. A 17-year-old boy was detained at the site on suspicion of murder and attempted murder.
“The investigation is in its early stages, and the motivation for the incident remains unclear. However, Counterterrorism Police Northwest have offered their support,” Kennedy said. Initially, the police did not classify the event as terrorism-related.
Local business owner Colin Parry, who contacted the police, described the Southport incident as resembling a “scene in a horror movie.”
Parry recalled that several young girls were among those stabbed. “The mothers are coming here now and screaming. It is like a scene from a horror movie,” Parry said, adding that “the police have got him.”
Parry directed the police to an address near Hart Space studios, where a Taylor Swift-themed yoga and dance class for children aged six to 11 was listed as occurring at the time of the attack.
“It’s like something from America, not like sunny Southport,” Parry said.
A Hart Street resident recounted how a woman arrived outside his home, frantically screaming about her daughter being stabbed.
“The woman was in hysterics. Then two police cars rushed up the street the other way. It was a mom with her 10-year-old daughter who had been stabbed.”
“I helped to get her back up to where the police cars and ambulances were. She didn’t look great, but my focus was on getting her back up the street to get help.
“When I got back up the street, there were a couple of kids on the floor being seen to by paramedics, and as I came back, more police cars were going down, and more ambulances gradually started to arrive.”
The Alder Hey Children’s Hospital Trust in Liverpool, approximately 20 miles from Southport, declared a “major incident.”
“The Trust is working with other emergency services to respond to this incident, and our Emergency Department is currently extremely busy,” the hospital said in a statement posted on its website.
“We ask parents to only bring their children to the Emergency Department if it is urgent,” it stated.
King Charles III and Queen Camilla expressed deep shock over the tragic events, offering condolences to the victims’ families and all those affected.
“My wife and I have been profoundly shocked to hear of the utterly horrific incident in Southport,” King Charles said in a statement shared on the Royal Family’s official social media channels on Monday.
The Prince and Princess of Wales praised the emergency responders and extended their sympathies to everyone involved in this tragic incident.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer reacted to the tragic events in Southport, stating in a broadcasted statement that the entire nation is “deeply shocked” by the violence observed.
“I know I speak for everybody in the whole country in saying our thoughts and condolences are with the victims, their families, their friends, and the wider community.”
“And it’s almost impossible to imagine the grief that they’re going through, the trauma that they’re experiencing,” Starmer said, also paying tribute to the emergency services for their response to what he described as an “awful incident.”