England: 2 children dead, 9 persons injured in stabbing at dance class

A stabbing at a children’s dance class in northwest England on Monday (July 29) killed two children and injured nine persons, including two adults, police said. A 17-year-old boy was arrested and a knife seized after the bloody attack, they added.

A witness described seeing bloodied children running from a community centre where a Taylor Swift-themed dance and yoga event for children aged about 6 to 11 was taking place in Southport, a seaside town near Liverpool. An advertisement for the event promised “a morning of Taylor Swift-themed yoga, dance and bracelet making”.

“Devastating scene”

The North West Ambulance Service in Cheshire and Merseyside said paramedics encountered a “devastating scene” when they arrived. Ambulances and air ambulances were used to take the 13 victims to Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, Manchester Children’s Hospital, Aintree Hospital, Southport & Formby Hospital and Ormskirk Hospital.

Armed officers seized a knife when they arrested the suspect, as Merseyside Police also declared a “major incident”. The force urged the public to avoid the area — as local businessman Colin Parry, who was among those who called the police, described the scene as like a “horror movie”.

“Ferocious attack”

Merseyside Police Chief Constable Kennedy said when officers arrived, they were “shocked to find” several children had been “subjected to a ferocious attack and had suffered serious injuries”.

Two adults are also in a critical condition, who, the police said, were trying to protect the children.

Specialist officers are supporting the families of the children who were killed and those who were injured.

Motive unclear

The 17-year-old Wales-born male suspect, armed with a knife, is believed to have walked into the premises and launched the attack. He was later arrested on suspicion of murder and attempted murder, the local Merseyside Police said at a news briefing.

The chief constable said the suspect’s motive is unclear at this early stage, but the investigation is not being treated as terror-related.

The suspect, who has not been identified, lived in a village about 8 km from the site of the attack, police said.

“Covered in red, covered in blood”

Bare Varathan, who owns a shop down the street, said he saw between seven and 10 bleeding children running from the Hart Space, a community hub that offers classes for expectant mothers, babies and children.

“They had been stabbed here, here, here, everywhere,” he said, indicating the neck, back and chest. “They were all aged about 10. One of them was really seriously injured.”

Ryan Carney, who lives with his mother in the street, said his mother saw emergency workers carrying children “covered in red, covered in blood. She said she could see the stab wounds in the backs of the children”.

“All this stuff never really happens around here,” he said. “You hear of it, stabbings and stuff like that in major cities, your Manchesters, your Londons. This is sunny Southport. That’s what people call it. The sun’s out. It’s a lovely place to be.”

Message from the royals

King Charles and Queen Camilla said they were “profoundly shocked” after what the police described as a “ferocious” stabbing attack. Of the injured, six are reportedly critical, and two of them are adults.

“My wife and I have been profoundly shocked to hear of the utterly horrific incident in Southport,” the King said in a statement released by Buckingham Palace. “We send our most heartfelt condolences, prayers and deepest sympathies to the families and loved ones of those who have so tragically lost their lives, and to all those affected by this truly appalling attack,” he said.

“Horrendous,” says Starmer

In a separate statement, the Prince and Princess of Wales — William and Kate Middleton — said as parents they “could not begin to imagine what the families, friends and loved ones of those killed and injured in Southport today are going through”.

Prince William and Kate added: “We send our love, thoughts and prayers to all those involved in this horrid and heinous attack.”

Prime Minister Keir Starmer called the attack “horrendous and deeply shocking”. Merseyside Police said officers were called at about noon to an address in Southport, a seaside town of about 100,000 people near Liverpool. It called it a “major incident” but said there was no wider threat to the public.

Such attacks rare in Britain

Britain’s worst attack on children occurred in 1996, when 43-year-old Thomas Hamilton shot 16 kindergarten pupils and their teacher dead in a school gymnasium in Dunblane, Scotland. The UK subsequently banned the private ownership of almost all handguns.

Mass shootings and murders with firearms are rare in Britain. where knives were used in about 40 per cent of homicides in the year to March 2023. Several headline-grabbing attacks and a recent rise in knife crime have stoked anxieties and led to calls for the government to do more to clamp down on bladed weapons.

(With agency inputs)