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Flowers, teddy bears and tributes were left near the site of Monday’s stabbing.
Southport, UK:
British police on Tuesday questioned a 17-year-old suspect who was arrested after a knife attack that killed three children and injured eight.
Flowers, teddy bears and tributes poured in after Monday’s stabbing at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport, near Liverpool, which left two adults and six children seriously injured and three more children injured.
Police Chief Serena Kennedy said the two adults were trying to protect the children, who were between the ages of six and 11.
Swift said Tuesday that she was “totally in shock.”
“The loss of life and innocence, and the terrible trauma it brought to everyone there, the families and the first responders. It was just little kids in a dance class. This family,” he said.
Residents of Southport, a small seaside town popular with summer tourists, were still coming to terms with the attack.
“I’m still in complete shock – I just can’t believe it happened so close to home,” Lena Hassan told reporters on Tuesday.
She had arrived to pick up her daughter from a nearby nursery which was closed after the attack.
Her daughter was safe, “but unfortunately that’s not the reality for many parents today,” she added.
Police Chief Kennedy confirmed that the attack is not being treated as terrorism-related and the attacker’s motive is unclear.
Establishing motivation
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the events were truly horrific, with the entire country in shock.
“The grief is almost impossible to imagine,” he added.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper visited Southport on Tuesday to meet with Kennedy and other officials, including an evening vigil for victims.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves told Sky News that Starmer is also likely to visit the community.
The 17-year-old man, arrested on suspicion of murder and attempted murder, is from the neighboring village of Banks and was born in the Welsh capital, Cardiff, Merseyside Police said.
Witnesses told UK media that the attacker was seen arriving at the scene in a taxi and entered the venue wearing a mask.
Officers were called to the incident shortly before 1100 GMT on Monday, minutes before the end of the dance event, police said.
Armed officers took the suspect into close custody and seized a knife.
The suspect was in custody at a police station on Tuesday and police said inquiries were ongoing “to ascertain the motive behind this tragic incident”.
Targeted attacks on children are rare in the UK.
Scary movie
Monday’s incident brought back memories of the 1996 school massacre in the Scottish town of Dunblane, which killed 16 young pupils and their teacher in Britain’s worst mass shooting.
The North West Ambulance Service said it treated 11 people with stab wounds, who were then taken by ambulance and helicopter to Alderney Children’s Hospital and other area hospitals.
Local business owner Colin Perry, who called the police, told the Press Association (PA) news agency that he believed several “young girls” had been stabbed.
One of his staff members also saw “about 10 kids run past him, all bleeding, and one of them collapsed on the floor outside a neighbor’s,” he said.
Bray Varathan, who owns a local shop, told PA that he saw “seven to 10 children” who were “wounded, bleeding”.
Other witnesses told UK media they heard screams, comparing the attack to a scene from a horror film.
King Charles III offered his “deepest condolences, prayers and deepest sympathy” and described the incident as “absolutely horrific”.
“As parents, we cannot imagine what the families, friends and loved ones of those killed and injured in Southport are going through today,” Prince William and his wife Catherine posted on X. Calling it a “heinous attack”.
(Other than the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
