After Southport attack that killed two children, eight people in critical condition
Police question 17-year-old over attack at dance class on Monday in which 11 children and two adults were stabbed.
Eight people remain in a critical condition in hospital after two children were killed and several more injured in an attack on a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport.
Eleven children and two adults were stabbed in what police described as a “ferocious attack” in a studio on Hart Street on Monday morning, 10 minutes before the class was due to end.
Six youngsters remain in a critical condition in hospital, along with two adults who police said were trying to protect the children when they were injured.
A 17-year-old boy, from the Lancashire village of Banks but born in Cardiff, has been arrested on suspicion of murder and attempted murder, with police saying the motive remains unclear.
The suspect, who police said was armed with a knife, is continuing to be questioned by police on Tuesday. The force is not treating the incident as terror-related currently.
The home secretary, Yvette Cooper, has travelled to the Merseyside town and is expected to be joined by the prime minister later.
Keir Starmer joined King Charles in offering condolences to the victims on Monday, saying: “The whole country is deeply shocked at what they have seen and what they have heard.”
King Charles said he and Queen Camilla had been “profoundly shocked” to hear of the “utterly horrific incident in Southport”, while the Prince and Princess of Wales described it as a “horrid and heinous” attack.
The Southport MP, Patrick Hurley, said it was a “tragic and uniquely horrific event”, and a vigil was planned near the site of the attack on Tuesday evening.
“It’s almost beyond comprehension, what happened yesterday,” he told BBC Radio 4. “The town is waking up this morning really in shock, and in grief. There are barely any adequate words to express what happened and how we’re all feeling.”
He praised the response of local community and church groups in Southport for coming together to support those affected.
“This is a lovely, quite quiet and sleepy town on the coast. This is a traditional seaside resort and this is not the sort of thing anyone is remotely prepared for, but the response has been fantastic,” he said.
He also urged people to avoid speculation on social media that could “inflame tensions” in the area. “The town doesn’t want that; the town is in mourning, the town is in shock, and we need to make sure that was is online is reflective of the reality on the ground,” he said.
Residents have begun leaving floral tributes at the scene, passing them to police officers who laid them behind the cordon.
“I live in Southport,” said Rebecca Armstrong, 50, who said she felt she had to come down to pay her respects. “I just wanted to show that we care about the children, the families … our thoughts are with them,” she said.
Colin Parry, the owner of the Masters Vehicle Body Repairs, about 50 metres from the dance studio, said he had a heated exchange with a person he believed to be the attacker moments before the stabbings took place.
“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?’” he said.
He then said a member of staff saw “about 10 kids go running past him, all bleeding, and one of them collapsed on the floor”.
ITV News has published footage of a masked individual pacing in front of a house they say was later raided by police in Banks, a village about five miles from the scene of the attack.
An individual wearing a green hoodie and a face mask can be seen walking back and forth outside the house, with footage later showing several police cars and a group of officers, including some who are armed, appearing at the same house.
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