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Sad News:One Child Deadđ and Seven Injured After Knifeman Rampages Through Taylor Swift-Themed Kids’ Dance and Yoga Workshop at Southport Summer Club-hieu
One child has been killed and at least seven people were injured when a knifeman reportedly rampaged through a Taylor Swift-themed childrenâs workshop in Southport this morning.
Armed police officers swooped on Hart Street in Merseyside at 11.50am after the stabbing spree at the sold out childrenâs dance, yoga and bracelet making workshop, which was just about to finish.
Mothers arriving to pick up their children at the end of the workshop were greeted with a scene that was likened to something from a âhorror movieâ as injured children were carried outside by emergency workers.
Merseyside Police officers detained a man and seized a knife. The force urged people to avoid the area but said there was âno wider threatâ to the public. The spree left one child dead in the quiet seaside town, the Liverpool Echo reported.
Ryan Carney, who lives with his mother Hayley on Hart Street, said he rushed home from work to be with her after she witnessed the terrible aftermath. He said: âShe went out and there was a woman who was screaming, saying she canât find her child.
âThey let her into the cordon and she ran down and all she could hear was screaming and crying, saying, âThatâs my child! Thatâs my child!ââ
There are thought to have been around 25 children aged between six and 11 taking part in the workshop for schoolkids in years two through to six when the horrific attack took place.
Onlookers said they saw a man in a âblack hoodâ arrive in a taxi with a knife before people were left on the street âscreamingâ and âin tearsâ.
Police in Southport, Merseyside, where a man has been detained and a knife has been seized
Police in Southport, Merseyside, where a man has been detained and a knife has been
A forensic officer is spotted at the scene after the horrific stabbing spree
The attack happened at at âTaylor Swift themed workshopâ on Hart Street in Southport
Locals said they saw children running from the building and assumed there had been a car accident because a vehicle was covered in blood.
But they quickly realised something more sinister had occurred when they saw âseven to ten kidsâ who were âinjured and bleedingâ outside the nursery.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said the multiple stabbings were âhorrendous and deeply shockingâ as he thanked emergency services for their response.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said she was âdeeply concernedâ by the attack.
Eye-witness Bare Varathan, 35, who owns a corner shop on Hart Street, said he was called by a staff member who told him, âBoss, get to the shop!â
He said: âI saw seven to ten kids outside the nursery. They were injured, bleeding.
âThey were in the road, running from the nursery. They had been stabbed, here, here, here, everywhere. [Mr Varathan indicated the neck, back and chest area].
âThey were all aged about ten. One of them was really seriously injured.
âI hope they will be OK. Only two police jeeps and ambulances arrived, then armed police came and took him out of the nursery. Somebody told me he had arrived in a taxi and had a knife
One resident, who lives on Hart Street but did not want to be named, said he was at home about midday when a woman pulled up outside in her car, screaming.
He said: âShe was screaming âmy daughterâs been stabbedâ. The woman was in hysterics. Then two police cars rushed up the street the other way.
âIt 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.
âShe didnât look great but my focus was on getting her back up the street to get help.
âWhen 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.â
A BBC reporter at the scene described one girl on a stretcher covered in blood with âher parents running after herâ.
The victims have been taken to Alder Hey Childrenâs Hospital, Aintree University Hospital and Southport and Formby hospital.
A staff member at the Hart Space, who wanted to remain anonymous, said she had heard the suspect was wearing a âblack hoodâ when he reportedly stabbed multiple children.
They said: âThere were probably 25 children there because thatâs the max we have there and they had reached the max.