Southport knife attack: Two children killed and 11 people injured in stabbing at kids dance class
A teenage boy has been arrested after ‘horror movie’ knife attack that killed two children and injured 11 other people.
Two children have been killed in a ‘ferocious’ knife attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance and yoga workshop for primary school kids in Southport. Merseyside Police Chief Constable Serena Kennedy said nine other children have been injured, six of them critically.
Two adults, who police believe were ‘bravely trying to protect the children who were being attacked’, are also in a critical conditional in hospital.
A 17-year-old boy, originally from Cardiff and living in Banks near Southport, has been arrested on suspicion or murder and attempted murder. Merseyside Police say they have also recovered a knife.
Emergency services were called to the dance studio on Hart Street at 11.47am on Monday morning after a man armed with a knife, walked into the premises and started attacking the people inside.
Chief Constable Kennedy said when officers arrived ‘they were shocked to find that multiple people, many of whom were children, had been subjected to a ferocious attack’. Witnesses said they saw injured children fleeing the venue.
Thirteen ambulances and a helicopter attended the scene as casualties were treated for stab wounds. The North West Ambulance Service said patients were taken to three hospitals around the region, including Alder Hey Children's Hospital in Liverpool.
Merseyside Police said the motivation for the attack is unclear but the incident is not being treated as terror-related, and they are not looking for anyone else.
One eyewitness told the BBC that the attacker, described as wearing a face mask, arrived on Hart Street in a taxi and refused to pay his fare.
Residents said they were alerted that something was wrong when they heard a woman in the street, shouting for help. Debrah Parker, 57, told The Guardian she heard a girl come out of the building saying: “Mum, I’ve been stabbed, I’ve been stabbed. She [the mother] bundled her in the car as fast as she could, she was screaming: ‘Help me, help me.’ She was covered in blood.”
Colin Parry, owner of Masters Vehicle Body Repairs opposite the studio, who called the police, said: “The mothers are coming here now and screaming. It is like a scene from a horror movie.” He added: “Police have got him.”
Bare Varathan, 35, who owns a corner shop in Hart Street, said: "I saw seven to 10 kids outside the nursery. They were injured, bleeding. They were in the road, running from the nursery. They had been stabbed, here, here, here, everywhere. (Mr Varathan indicated the neck, back and chest area). They were all aged about 10.