Southport ‘nursery’ stabbings: 17-year-old boy arrested as child among dead, injured in stabbing

A teenager remains in police custody after at least eight people were injured in a “horror movie” knife attack near a Taylor Swift-themed yoga class. Merseyside Police said the stabbings were not being treated as terror-related after a local councilor said it was feared a child had died.

The force said a 17-year-old boy, from the village of Banks, was arrested and is due to be questioned following the “major incident” at a property in Hart Street, Southport, north of Liverpool, at around 11.50am on Monday. . A witness told the PA news agency he called police to an address behind The Hart Space studios, where a Taylor Swift-themed yoga class was being held for school children in years two to six, aged six to 11 years.

A local councilor said he attended the scene in Southport on Monday, where a police officer told him a child had died in the attack. Asked if he could confirm the death of a child, the councilor told PA: “That’s my understanding of the situation.”

North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) said it had so far treated eight patients with stab wounds who were taken to Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, Aintree University Hospital and Southport and Formby hospital. Witnesses described hearing “screams” and seeing bleeding children running from the scene. Colin Parry, owner of Masters Vehicle Body Repairs, said he believed six or seven “young women” were stabbed, although this has not been confirmed.

He continued: “Mothers now come here and scream. It’s like a scene from a horror movie.”

A large police cordon was set up around the building in Hart Road, with police officers guarding both ends. Officers and vehicles could be seen from a distance inside the cordon, including crime scene officers in white suits.

Bare Varathan, 35, who owns a corner shop in Hart Street, said he was called by a member of staff who said: “Boss, go to the shop!”

He said: “I saw seven to 10 children outside the nursery. They were wounded, they were bleeding. They were on their way, running away from the nursery.

“They had been stabbed, here, here, here, everywhere. (Mr Varathan indicated neck, back and chest area) They were all about 10 years old. One of them was really seriously injured.

“I hope they will be fine. Only two police jeeps and ambulances arrived, then the armed police came.”