Two children were killed and nine others injured during a knife attack targeting a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in a northern England town on Monday.
According to CNN, a teenage suspect was apprehended after what one witness described as a scene from a “horror movie.”
Merseyside Police’s Chief Constable, Serena Kennedy, reported that six of the injured children are in critical condition, alongside two adults.
Kennedy explained that the suspect entered the premises 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 during a Monday evening news conference.
Merseyside Police received reports of a stabbing in Southport, north of Liverpool. Emergency services responded to a “major incident” in the town at around 11:50 a.m. local time (6:50 a.m. ET). A 17-year-old boy was arrested at the scene on “suspicion of murder and attempted murder.”
Kennedy noted that while the investigation is in its early stages and the motivation for the incident is unclear, Counterterrorism Police Northwest have offered their support.
Earlier statements from the police indicated the incident was not treated as terror-related.
Local business owner Colin Parry, who called the police, compared the Southport incident to a “scene in a horror movie,” as reported by PA Media.
Parry believed several young girls had been stabbed. “The mothers are coming here now and screaming. It is like a scene from a horror movie,” he said, adding, “police have got him.”
Parry directed police to an address in Hart Street behind the Hart Space studios, where a Taylor Swift-themed yoga and dance class for children ages six to eleven was being held at the time of the stabbings, according to its website.
“It’s like something from America, not like sunny Southport,” Parry remarked.
A Hart Street resident, who wished to remain anonymous, recounted seeing a woman screaming outside his house, “She was screaming ‘my daughter’s been stabbed.’” He added, “The woman was in hysterics. Then two police cars rushed up the street the other way. It was a mum 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,” he continued. “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.”
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 stated on its website. “We ask parents to only bring their children to the Emergency Department if it is urgent,” they added.
King Charles III and Queen Camilla expressed being “profoundly shocked” by the attack. “My wife and I have been profoundly shocked to hear of the utterly horrific incident in Southport,” King Charles said in a statement on the Royal Family’s official social media channels.
They extended their “most heartfelt condolences” to the “families and loved ones of those who have so tragically lost their lives” and everyone affected by the tragedy.
The Prince and Princess of Wales also issued a statement thanking emergency responders and sending their “love, thoughts and prayers to all those involved in this horrid and heinous attack.”
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer responded by saying the “whole country” is “deeply shocked at what they’ve seen” in Southport. “I know I speak for everybody in the whole country in saying our thoughts and condolences 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 going through,” Starmer said, commending emergency services for their handling of the “awful incident.”
Southport MP Patrick Hurley expressed being “deeply concerned” about the attack. “I am hoping for the best possible outcomes to the casualties affected. My thoughts go out to all those affected, their loved ones and to the entire community,” Hurley said on X.
