Southport stabbings timeline: How witnesses said 'ferocious' knife attack unfolded

Eyewitnesses have described harrowing scenes surrounding the ‘ferocious’ Southport knife attack that claimed the lives of two children, with one stating it was ‘like a horror movie’.

Six children and two adults remain in a critical condition in hospital after the attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance and yoga workshop for primary school children in Southport, on Monday morning. Two children were tragically killed in the attack on Hart Street, and armed polioce officers arrested a 17-year-old boy from Banks, Lancashire, shortly after the incident and seized a knife. 

Merseyside Police say the motivation for the attack is not yet clear but the incident is not being treated as terror-related, and they are not looking for anyone else. It is believed that the two injured adults were ‘bravely trying to protect the children who were being attacked’, and local witnesses reported seeing several children with stab wounds.

How witnesses said the knife attack unfolded

• Footage shared on X by ITV Editor Paul Brand shows a person - who was wearing a mask - pacing back and forth outside a property in Banks, which was later ‘raided by police’. Mr Brand says the footage was ‘taken 20 minutes before’ the attack. He added: “Neighbours told me they later saw this same individual get into a taxi. The scene of the attacks is around a 15 minute drive from this location. Armed police arrived around two hours later to raid the house.”

• Colin Parry, the owner of the Masters Vehicle Body Repairs 50 metres or so from the scene of the attack, told The Guardian he had a heated exchange with a young man he believed to be the attacker moments before the attack. He said: "He came down our driveway in a taxi and didn't pay for the taxi, so I confronted him at that point. He was quite aggressive he said: 'What are you gonna do about it?'." Mr Parry said the man he now believes was the attacker then turned and walked out of the driveway of his business.
• Moments later, Mr Parry received a phone call from a colleague who had run to the scene after he heard ‘screaming that wasn’t normal’. Mr Parry ran out and described the scene as like a ‘horror movie’.
• Bare Varathan, 35, who owns a corner shop in Hart Street, told PA: "I saw seven to 10 kids outside 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."
• Another resident, who lives in Hart Street but did not want to be named, said he was at home about midday when a woman pulled up outside in her car, screaming 'my daughter's been stabbed’. “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. 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."

• At 11.47am, Merseyside Police were called to a report of stabbings at an address on Hart Street. According to Chief Constable Serena Kennedy, “when they arrived they were shocked to find that multiple people, many of whom were children, had been subjected to a ferocious attack and had suffered serious injuries.”
• Southport residents report seeing helicopters and a large police presence, as well as a cordon around Hart Street.
• North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) said they took 11 people to Aintree University Hospital, Southport and Formby Hospital, and Alder Hey Children's Hospital.
• Alder Hey declared a major incident and told parents to only bring their children to its emergency department if it is urgent.

• Police are spotted raiding a home in Banks, Lancashire, and at around 1.00pm, Merseyside Police release a statement saying that armed officers have detained a male and seized a knife. They ask residents to avoid the Hart Street area and state, ‘there is no wider threat to the public’.
• During a press conference at 6.30pm, Chief Constable Serena Kennedy confirms that two children have died and nine were injured, six of whom remain in a critical condition. The suspect is confirmed to be a Cardiff-born 17-year-old, who was living in nearby Banks.

Police are yet to provide further updates as of Tuesday morning, however, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper is in Southport following the stabbings and will meet with Merseyside Chief Constable Serena Kennedy, Police and Crime Commissioner Emily Spurrell, and other community leaders.