Police officers and forensic personnel behind a cordon on Hart Street in Southport, northwest England, on 29 July 2024, after a knife attack. (Darren Staples / AFP)
- Two children were killed and six more are critical after a knife attack at a venue for dance classes in northwest England.
- A single, 17-year-old suspect is in custody, police said, and they are not looking for any others involved.
- The incident is not being treated as terror-related.
Two children have been killed and nine more injured, six critically, in a knife attack in northern England on Monday, police said.
A 17-year-old male has been arrested on suspicion of murder and attempted murder over the attack in Southport, near Liverpool in northwest England, which also left two adults with critical injuries, Merseyside Police said in a news conference.
The attack was not being treated as terrorism, Merseyside Police said in a statement.
Armed officers detained the suspect and seized a knife after being called to a property that UK media reported was hosting a dance class for children.
“There are a number of reported casualties,” police said.
The North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) said it had “treated eight patients with stab injuries who have been taken to Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, Aintree University Hospital and Southport and Formby hospital”.
Alder Hey Children’s Hospital said: “We can confirm that the trust has declared a major incident.”
Local business owner Colin Parry, one of the people who called police, told the Press Association news agency that he believed several “young girls” had been stabbed.
Bare Varathan, who owns a local shop, told PA he saw “seven to 10 kids” who were “injured, bleeding”, adding that he saw they had been stabbed.
The suspect is in custody and “enquiries are ongoing to establish the motive for this tragic incident”, police said.
“We can also confirm that the incident is not currently being treated as terror-related and we are not looking for anyone else in connection with the incident.”
Prime Minister Keir Starmer called the incident “horrendous and deeply shocking”, adding in a post on X that “my thoughts are with all those affected”.
The area where the incident took place is in a quiet neighbourhood of residential streets.
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