Taylor Swift has said she is “completely in shock” after two children died and six other youngsters were left in a critical condition following a deadly knife attack at a holiday club themed on the singer.
A 17-year-old boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, remains in custody accused of murder and attempted murder following the incident in Hart Street, Southport, on Monday.
The fully-booked club for children, which was advertised as a dance and yoga workshop as well as bracelet-making, quickly became something “like a horror movie”, witnesses to the deadly stabbings have said.
Nine children were injured in the stabbings, alongside the two who died and two adults who remain in a critical condition after attempting to protect the youngsters.
Tributes have been paid on social media to the bravery of dance and yoga teacher Leanne Lucas after she was attacked in the incident.
Ms Lucas was named as an organiser of the event run by Southport-based business Enlighten in a post on Facebook.
In a statement released on social media on Tuesday, Swift said: “The horror of yesterday’s attack in Southport is washing over me continuously, and I’m just completely in shock.
“The loss of life and innocence, and the horrendous trauma inflicted on everyone who was there, the families and the first responders.
“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.”
UK home secretary Yvette Cooper is expected to make a statement on the attacks in the House of Commons on Tuesday afternoon, after earlier laying flowers at the police cordon.
She is understood to have met first responders in the town on Tuesday morning.
UK prime minister Sir Keir Starmer could also visit Southport, Chancellor Rachel Reeves told Sky News.
At the scene, flowers and teddies had been left close to the police cordon in Hart Street.
One message in a “Thinking Of You” card said “thoughts and prayers” are with those affected and was signed “Love – Southport.”
Another said: “Fly high with angels little ones.”
Police have said that, although the motive for the attack is unclear, it is not believed to be terror-related.
The Daily Telegraph reported that businessman Jonathan Hayes was stabbed in the leg after attempting to disarm the attacker.
His wife Helen told the newspaper: “Our office is in the same building as the dance studio. He heard screams and went outside, saw the attacker, saw that he had hurt a child and tried to take the knife off him and got stabbed in the leg.”
She said she had been with her husband at the hospital all afternoon and added: “He’s very upset that he wasn’t able to be more help. Physically he will be OK, mentally I don’t know.”
Witnesses to the incident said the alleged knifeman arrived at the dance studio in a taxi and got out without paying.
One person told the Daily Telegraph the attacker had a black hooded top and was wearing a face mask.
The witness said the suspect then walked into the studio through a front door that was unlocked for fire safety reasons.
Merseyside Police Chief Constable Serena Kennedy said that, after receiving reports of a stabbing at 11.47am, officers were “shocked to find that multiple people, many of whom were children, had been subjected to a ferocious attack and had suffered serious injuries”.
Emergency services said the scene was “horrific” and “chaotic” as they arrived at the children’s club.
Police said the suspect, who was born in Cardiff, is from the village of Banks, just outside Southport, and a road in the area was cordoned off by detectives on Monday afternoon.
All the casualties are being treated in hospital, including children’s hospitals in Liverpool and Manchester.
