Two children killed and nine injured in knife attack during dance class in northern England

London
CNN
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Two children were killed and nine injured in a knife attack on a Taylor Swift dance class in a northern England town on Monday, police said.

Merseyside Police Chief Constable Serena Kennedy said six of the injured children were in a critical condition, adding that two adults were also in a critical condition as a result of the attack.

Kennedy said police believe the attacker entered the premises armed with a knife and began attacking the children.

“We believe that the injured adults bravely tried to protect the children who were attacked,” she said at a press conference on Monday evening.

Merseyside Police said they had received reports of a stabbing in Southport, north of Liverpool. Emergency services were called to a “serious 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.

“The investigation is still in its early stages and the motive for the incident is still unclear. However, Counterterrorism Police Northwest has offered its assistance,” Kennedy said.

Police had previously stated that the incident had not been classified as terrorist.

Local business owner Colin Parry was one of the people who called police. According to PA Media, he said the incident in Southport was like a “scene from a horror film”.

Parry said he believed several young girls had been stabbed. “The mothers are coming here now and screaming. It’s like a scene from a horror movie,” Parry said, adding that “the police got him.”

The businessman said he directed police to an address on Hart Street behind Hart Space Studios, where one of the events listed at the time of the stabbings was a
Taylor Swift-themed yoga and dance class for children ages six to eleven, the website says.

“It’s like something from America, not like sunny Southport,” said Parry.

A local resident who lives on Hart Street but wishes to remain anonymous told PA Media that a woman pulled up her car outside his house screaming. He said: “She was screaming, ‘My daughter has been stabbed’.”

“The woman was hysterical. Then two police cars raced up the street in the other direction. It was a mother with her 10-year-old daughter who had been stabbed.”

“I helped her get back to where the police cars and ambulances were. She didn’t look good, but I focused on getting her back on the road so she could get help.

“When I came back up the street, there were a few children lying on the ground being cared for by paramedics. And when I came back, more police cars drove off and gradually more ambulances arrived.”

Alder Hey Children’s Hospital Trust in Liverpool, about 20 miles from Southport, said it was a “serious 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 on its website. “We ask that parents only bring their children to the emergency department in urgent cases,” it said.

King and country shocked

King Charles III and his wife Queen Camilla said they were “deeply shocked” by the incident.

“My wife and I were deeply shocked to hear of the absolutely horrific incident in Southport,” King Charles said in a statement shared on the royal family’s official social media channels on Monday.

The couple expressed their “sincere condolences to the families and loved ones of those who have so tragically lost their lives” and to all those affected by the incident.

The Prince and Princess of Wales also released a statement thanking emergency workers and sending “their love, thoughts and prayers to everyone involved in this cruel and heinous attack.”

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer also reacted to the events. In a clip made available to broadcasters, he said that the “whole country” was “deeply shocked by what it saw in Southport”.

“I know I speak for everyone across the country when I extend our thoughts and condolences to the victims, their families, their friends and the wider community. And it is almost impossible to imagine the grief that they are going through, the trauma that they are going through,” Starmer said, also paying tribute to the emergency services for their response to what he called a “terrible incident”.

British MP for Southport, Patrick Hurley, said he was “deeply concerned” about the “incident”.

“I hope for the best possible outcome for the victims involved. My thoughts are with all those affected, their families and the entire community,” Hurley said on X.

This story has been updated with further developments.

Correction: This story has been updated to correct the name of the city where the incident occurred.