Six children and two adults remain in critical condition as police continue to question a 17-year-old boy over a deadly knife attack in Southport, England.
Two children were killed after a suspected teenage knifeman attacked a Taylor Swift-themed holiday dance class on Monday morning.
The boy, born in Cardiff, is being held on suspicion of murder and attempted murder following the attack in Hart Street, Southport, Merseyside Police said.
Further details of the victims, including age and gender, have not been given by police, who said they are not treating the incident as terror-related but added the motive “remains unclear”.
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Three other children were injured in the stabbing while the two adults were hurt trying to protect the youngsters, the force said.
[ Two children dead, nine injured after ‘ferocious’ knife attack in SouthportOpens in new window ]
All the casualties are now being treated in hospitals, including children’s hospitals in Liverpool and Manchester.
The suspect is from Banks, a village outside Southport, and a road in the area was cordoned off by police on Monday afternoon.
Merseyside Police had declared a major incident at the scene in Southport, after receiving emergency calls at 11.50am on Monday, with armed response vehicles, 13 ambulances and the fire service descending on the scene, a school holiday club for children aged six to 11.
The children were attending a Taylor Swift event at the dance school when the offender walked into the premises with a knife and attacked them.
One local said one of the two adults injured in the attack locked herself in a room with children to protect them as eyewitnesses reported hearing screaming and seeing children “covered” in blood, suffering stab wounds.
ITV editor Paul Brand shared footage of a person pacing back and forth outside a house, which he said is the same home that “was later raided by police in Southport.
“The footage is taken 20 minutes before two children were killed and 11 other people were injured in a knife attack,” Mr Brand said on X.
Mr Brand added in a second tweet: “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 believes 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 said he received a phone call from a colleague who had run to the dance studio after he heard “screaming that wasn’t normal”, he added.
Mr Parry said a member of staff saw “about 10 kids go running past him, all bleeding, and one of them collapsed on the floor outside the neighbour next door”.
“I went out and there’s two or three kids just lying on the floor. I mean, it’s a frenzied attack,” he said. “It’s not one stab. He’s gone crazy, the lad’s gone crazy.” - PA