Southport knife attack: third child dies of injuries
Taylor Swift shares her condolences after young fans targeted at pop-themed dance class
![Police and forensic officers attend the scene of a multiple stabbing attack in Southport, Merseyside](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/jgANfvFPJUemd4wSVpGXRe-415-80.jpg)
Three children have been killed and eight injured after a "horror movie" knife attack at a dance class in Merseyside.
Six-year-old Bebe King and seven-year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe, were pronounced dead following the rampage in Southport yesterday. Alice Dasilva Aguiar, aged nine, died from her injuries in the early hours of this morning, reported the BBC.
A 17-year-old boy was arrested on suspicion of murder and attempted murder after the rampage at a summer holidays Taylor Swift-themed yoga and dance class. A teenager armed with a knife entered the class and started to attack the children at about 11.47am yesterday, shortly before the session was due to end. The organiser of the class was one of two adults stabbed in the attack.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
![https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516-320-80.jpg)
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Merseyside Police Chief Constable Serena Kennedy told reporters that officers were "shocked to find that multiple people, many of whom were children, had been subjected to a ferocious attack and suffered serious injuries". Residents told Sky News the massacre was like a "scene from a horror movie".
Taylor Swift has shared a message of condolence on her Instagram account, saying she is "completely in shock" over the violent attack on a class full of young fans. "These were just little kids at a dance class. I am at a complete loss for how to ever convey my sympathies to these families."
Police said the motivation for Monday's attack was "unclear", but it was not being treated as terror related. The teenager in custody was "born in Cardiff and moved to the Southport area in 2013" with his parents, who are from Rwanda, and a brother also born in Cardiff, said the BBC.
As "people in Southport try to deal with the horror", said Vikram Dodd, police and crime correspondent at The Guardian, formal processes will follow, including a criminal trial of the suspect and inquests into the deaths. There will also be trauma programmes for the emergency services workers who were first on the scene. The attack "stirs memories of the Dunblane massacre", when in March 1996 a gunman killed 16 schoolchildren and a teacher before taking his own life.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Arion McNicoll is a freelance writer at The Week Digital and was previously the UK website’s editor. He has also held senior editorial roles at CNN, The Times and The Sunday Times. Along with his writing work, he co-hosts “Today in History with The Retrospectors”, Rethink Audio’s flagship daily podcast, and is a regular panellist (and occasional stand-in host) on “The Week Unwrapped”. He is also a judge for The Publisher Podcast Awards.
-
Today's political cartoons - September 7, 2024
Cartoons Saturday's cartoons - football widows, meddling kids, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Smoking ban: the return of the nanny state?
Talking Point Starmer's plan to revive Sunak-era war on tobacco has struck an unsettling chord even with some non-smokers
By The Week UK Published
-
Crossword: September 7, 2024
The Week's daily crossword puzzle
By The Week Staff Published
-
Hunter Biden pleads guilty to tax charges
Speed Read In an unexpected move, President Joe Biden's son pleads guilty to tax fraud and avoids a trial
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Father of alleged Georgia school shooter arrested
Speed Read The 14-year-old's father was arrested in connection with the deaths of two teachers and two students
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Teen kills 4 in Georgia high school shooting
Speed Read A student shot and killed two classmates and two teachers at Apalachee High School
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Judge rejects Trump bid to make NY case federal
Speed Read Judge Alvin Hellerstein refused Trump's motion to transfer his criminal case to federal court
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Nevada politician guilty of murdering journalist
Speed Read Robert Telles was found guilty of murdering investigative journalist Jeff German in 2022
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
French prosecutors charge Telegram's Durov
Speed Read Telegram CEO Pavel Durov faces preliminary charges in France for permitting crime on his messaging app
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Celebrity lawyer Tom Girardi convicted of fraud
Speed read Former 'Real Housewives' husband Girardi was also part of the legal team depicted in the 2000 film 'Erin Brockovich'
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
France arrests CEO of Telegram
Speed Read Pavel Durov, the billionaire founder of the messaging app Telegram, was arrested as part of an ongoing judicial investigation
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published