Two children killed and nine injured in knife attack at dance class in northern England

London (CNN) — Two children have been killed and nine injured in a knife attack targeting a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in a town in northern England on Monday, police said.

Merseyside Police’s Chief Constable Serena Kennedy said six of the injured children are in critical condition, and added that the attack has also left two adults in critical condition.

Kennedy said that the police understands the attacker walked into the premises armed with a knife and started to attack the children.

“We believe that the adults who were injured were bravely trying to protect the children who were being attacked,” she said at a news conference on Monday evening.

Merseyside Police said it received reports of a stabbing in Southport, north of Liverpool. Emergency services were called to a “major incident” in the town at around 11:50 a.m. local time (6:50aET). A 17-year-old boy was arrested at the scene.

“The investigation is in its early stages and the motivation for the incident remains unclear. However Counterterrorism Police Northwest have offered their support,” Kennedy said.

The police said earlier the incident was not treated as terror-related.

Local business owner Colin Parry was one of the people who called the police, said the incident in Southport was like a “scene in a horror movie,” according to PA Media.

Parry said he believed a number of young girls had been stabbed. “The mothers are coming here now and screaming. It is like a scene from a horror movie,” Parry said, adding that “police have got him.”

The businessman said he had directed police to an address in Hart Street behind the Hart Space studios, where one of the events listed at the time of the stabbings was a
Taylor Swift-themed yoga and dance class for children ages six to 11, according to its website.

“It’s like something from America, not like sunny Southport,” Parry said.

One resident, who lives in Hart Street but did not wish to be named, told PA Media that a woman pulled up outside his house in her car, screaming. He said: “She was screaming ‘my daughter’s been stabbed’.

“The woman was in hysterics. Then two police cars rushed up the street the other way. It was a mum with her 10-year-old daughter who had been stabbed.”

“I helped to get her back up to where the police cars and ambulances were. She didn’t look great but my focus was on getting her back up the street to get help.

“When I got back up the street there were a couple of kids on the floor being seen to by paramedics and, as I came back, more police cars were going down and more ambulances gradually started to arrive.”

The Alder Hey Children’s Hospital Trust in Liverpool, about 20 miles from Southport, declared a “major incident.”

“The Trust is working with other emergency services to respond to this incident and our Emergency Department is currently extremely busy,” the hospital said in a statement posted to its website. “We ask parents to only bring their children to the Emergency Department if it is urgent,” it said.

King and country shocked

King Charles III and his wife, Queen Camilla said they were “profoundly shocked” by the incident.

“My wife and I have been profoundly shocked to hear of the utterly horrific incident in Southport,” King Charles said in a statement shared on the Royal Family official social media channels on Monday.

The couple went on to send their “most heartfelt condolences” to the “families and loved ones of those who have so tragically lost their lives” and all those impacted by the incident.

The Prince and Princess of Wales also released a statement thanking the emergency responders and sending their “love, thoughts and prayers to all those involved in this horrid and heinous attack.”

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer also responded to the events, saying in a clip shared with broadcasters that the “whole country” has been left “deeply shocked at what they’ve seen” in Southport.

“I know I speak for everybody in the whole country in saying our thoughts and condolences with the victims, their families, their friends and the wider community. And it’s almost impossible to imagine the grief that they’re going through, the trauma that they’re going through,” Starmer said, also paying tribute to emergency services for their response to what he described as an “awful incident.”

The British MP representing Southport, Patrick Hurley says he was “deeply concerned” about the “incident.”

“I am hoping for the best possible outcomes to the casualties affected. My thoughts go out to all those affected, their loved ones and to the entire community,” Hurley said on X.

This story has been updated with additional developments.

Correction: This story has been updated to correct the name of the town where the incident occurred.

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CNN’s Benjamin Brown in London contributed reporting.