Three young girls have died after a knife attack in Southport, England, at a Taylor Swift–themed dance class on Monday. As of Tuesday, five other children and two adults remain in critical condition. Writing on her Instagram Story, Swift said that she is “completely in shock” following the tragedy. “The horror of yesterday’s attack in Southport is washing over me continuously,” she wrote. “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.”
A 17-year-old boy has been arrested on suspicion of murder and attempted murder. As of Tuesday, he remained in custody and was being questioned by police. The motive remains unknown.
“It is understood that the children were attending a Taylor Swift event at a dance school when the offender, who was armed with a knife, walked into the premises and started to attack those inside,” police constable Serena Kennedy explained. “We believe that the adults who were injured were trying to protect the children at the time they were attacked.”
When police arrived on the scene, they found that multiple people, many of whom were children, had been attacked. Colin Parry, a local shop owner, told The Guardian that he had a tense exchange with the person he believed to be the attacker. “He came down our driveway in a taxi and didn’t pay for the taxi, so I confronted him at that point,” Parry told the British newspaper. “He was quite aggressive, he said: ‘What are you gonna do about it?’” Later, one of Parry’s employees saw “about ten kids go running past him, all bleeding, and one of them collapsed on the floor.”
The families of the three girls who were killed have allowed their names to be released. They were Bebe King (6), Elsie Dot Stancombe (7), and Alice Dasilva Aguiar (9). “No words can describe the devastation that has hit our family as [we] try to deal with the loss of our little girl Bebe,” said King’s family in a statement. “Keep smiling and dancing like you love to do our Princess, like we said before to you, you’re always our princess and no one would change that,” said Aguiar’s.
