A 17-year-old male has been detained by police in the northwestern English town of Southport after three children were killed and eight other people left injured following a mass stabbing on Monday morning.
The fatal knife attack took place at a children’s Taylor Swift-themed yoga and dance class in a local community hall. Five children and two adults were still in a critical condition on Tuesday morning. Swift said she was “completely in shock”.
Serena Kennedy, chief constable of Merseyside police, said it is believed the adults sustained their injuries trying to protect the children.
“When (officers) 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,” she said.
The motive for the attack remained unclear, she said, but it was not being treated as terror-related.
The youth detained on suspicion of murder and attempted murder is reportedly from the nearby village of Banks, but was born in south Wales. His name has not been released because of his age.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who visited the town on Tuesday, called the attack “just truly awful”, adding that “the whole country is deeply shocked at what they have seen and what they have heard”.
“I know I speak for everybody in the whole country in saying our thoughts and condolences are with the victims, their families, their friends and with the wider community. It is impossible to imagine what they are going through,” Starmer said, also thanking the emergency services for their response.
One of the injured adults is reportedly a local businessman who attempted to disarm the suspect when he heard screaming.
Helen Hayes told The Daily Telegraph that her husband Jonathan had been stabbed in the leg and was due to have surgery on Tuesday.
“Our office is in the same building as the dance studio. He heard screams and went outside, saw the attacker, saw that he had hurt a child and tried to take the knife off him and got stabbed in the leg,” she said. “Physically he will be OK, mentally I don’t know.”
Fans of Swift set up a fundraising page for the attack victims and the local Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, where some of the injured are being treated. In little more than 24 hours it had raised more than 150 thousand pounds ($192,433).