Southport stabbings – what we know so far about knife attack

Three young girls have been killed in a “ferocious” knife attack in Southport at a Taylor Swift-themed dance and yoga event.

They have been named by police as six-year-old Bebe King, Elsie Dot Stancombe, aged seven, and nine-year-old Alice Dasilva Aguiar.

Eight more children were injured, with five in a critical condition, after the incident late on Monday morning. Two adults also have critical injuries, Merseyside Police said.

Armed officers detained a male and seized a knife, with police later saying that a 17-year-old boy had been arrested on suspicion of murder and attempted murder. The attack is not being treated as terror-related, police said.

Here is what we know so far about the attack.

Police were called to reports of a stabbing at a property on Hart Street in Southport just before 11:50 BST on Monday.

Ms Kennedy said officers were “shocked” to find multiple people, many of whom were children, had been subjected to a “ferocious attack” and had suffered serious injuries.

Police believe a group of children were attending an event at a dance school when a person armed with a knife walked into the building and attacked those inside.

Two adults were critically injured “bravely” trying to protect the children from the attack, police believe.

Six-year-old Bebe King and seven-year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe died on Monday, while Alice Dasilva Aguiar, aged nine, died in hospital early on Tuesday morning from injuries sustained in the attack.

Bebe’s family said: “No words can describe the devastation that has hit our family as we try to deal with the loss of our little girl Bebe.”

The family of Alice, whose parents are from Madeira in Portugal but now live in Southport, according to a Portuguese government minister, said: “Keep smiling and dancing like you love to do our Princess, like we said before to you, you’re always our princess and no one would change that. Love from Your Hero Daddy and Mummy.”

As well as the three children who were killed, eight more suffered stab wounds in the attack and five remain in a critical condition.

North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) said it had treated 11 casualties with stab injuries.

The victims were taken to Aintree University Hospital, Southport and Formby Hospital, and Alder Hey Children’s Hospital.

Alder Hey confirmed on Tuesday that a child had died at the hospital after the “heart-breaking incident in Southport”.

Six other children continue to receive treatment with two remaining in critical care but currently in a stable condition, the hospital added.

Air ambulance doctors delivered “advanced emergency care” for one patient and accompanied them to hospital by road, the Great North Air Ambulance service.

The incident happened at a Taylor Swift-themed yoga and dance event in the Merseyside town of Southport, about 10 miles north of Liverpool.

The event was taking place at the Hart Space studio, close to a vehicle repair garage, in Hart Street, roughly a mile east of the centre of town.

The holiday club was advertised as including a dance and yoga workshop as well as bracelet making, and aimed at primary school children in Year 2-Year 6.

It is thought to have been fully booked with 25 children attending.

The BBC understands Leanne Lucas, thought to be 35, was running the holiday club. Her condition is not known, however tributes have poured in on social media, praising her bravery.

At the scene, flowers and teddies had been left by the police cordon, with one message saying: “Fly high with angels little ones.”

A vigil will take place in Southport on Tuesday at 18:00 BST outside The Atkinson on Lord Street, Sefton Council said.

A JustGiving page called Swifties for Southport, set up by fans of the singer to raise money for Alder Hey Children’s Charity, had more than £160,000 in donations as of 17:00 BST on Tuesday.

Merseyside Police confirmed that armed police “detained a male and seized a knife” following the incident, and said there was no wider threat to the public.

The force later said a 17-year-old boy from Banks, a Lancashire village to the north of Southport, was arrested on suspicion of murder in connection with the stabbing. He was originally from Cardiff, they added.

He remains in custody on Tuesday where he will be questioned about the incident, as police work to establish the motive for the attack.

One witness said the person they believed to be the attacker arrived in a taxi wearing a face mask and refused to pay the fare.

The BBC understands the teenager, who cannot be named for legal reasons, moved to the Southport area in 2013. His parents are from Rwanda and he has an older brother also born in Cardiff.

Helen, a neighbour of the family while they lived in Cardiff, has spoken of her shock at hearing the news from Southport.

She said the family had said they had come from Rwanda. Helen told the BBC: “They were a lovely young couple. They were little boys, they were boisterous. Mum was a stay at home mum, Dad was nice, he went to work every day. They had a small family car, a little hatchback.”

Detectives from Counter Terrorism Policing North West are actively providing support to the investigation, the BBC understands, although police said the incident is not currently being treated as terror-related.

They said a name shared on social media in connection with the suspect is “incorrect”, adding: “We would urge people not to speculate on details of the incident while the investigation is ongoing.”

Eyewitnesses have spoken of horrific scenes in the aftermath of the Southport attack, with one describing it as the “worst thing I’ve seen in my life”.

Multiple people reported seeing several young children bleeding in the road after being stabbed.

Speaking to Sky News, window cleaner Joel Verite said he heard a woman screaming “he’s stabbing kids” as he drove near the dance studio.

Mr Verite said he saw a woman in a car with a child in the passenger seat, with “four or five more kids, covered in blood” in the back.

“It was like a scene you’d see on a disaster film, honestly. I can’t even explain how horrific it was,” he added.

Mr Verite said he carried a girl out of the car to get her to safety before returning to the studio.

Joel Verite described locking eyes with a man holding a knife inside the building containing the dance studio before the alleged attacker “scurried off”.

Asked what was going through his head, he said: “I’m really scared, all I saw was a knife… I’m there by myself at the bottom of the stairs.”

The knifeman was later “tackled down to the floor” by police, he added.

Journalist Tim Johnson, of Eye on Southport, saw one girl on a stretcher who was seriously injured, and said paramedics were among “people in tears in the streets”.

Several witnesses say they heard a woman running down the road screaming “my daughter’s been stabbed”.

Another witness said they took around 10 girls to safety in a nearby house.

Taylor Swift posted on her Instagram story on Tuesday, saying the horror of the attack was “washing over me continuously”, and that she was “completely in shock”.

“These were just little kids at a dance class,” she added. “I am at a complete loss for how to ever convey my sympathies to these families.”

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper visited Southport on Tuesday morning and laid flowers near the scene.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer also travelled to the area later in the day, saying the attack “touches a nerve” with the whole country and it was “awful to contemplate what happened”.

King Charles III said on Monday night that he and the Queen were “profoundly shocked”.

In a statement posted on X, the King said they sent their “heartfelt condolences, prayers and deepest sympathies” to everyone affected by the “appalling attack”.

The Prince and Princess of Wales also sent “love, thoughts and prayers” to the victims of the “heinous” attack, saying: “As parents, we cannot begin to imagine what the families, friends and loved ones of those killed and injured in Southport today are going through.”