Floral tributes and soft toys are laid following a vigil in Southport, northwest England, on July 30, 2024, a day after a deadly child knife attack. Violent clashes broke out in the northern England town where a knife attack claimed the lives of three children, with around 100 protesters lighting fires and battling police. A 17-year-old male suspect from a nearby village arrested shortly after the incident remained in custody, police added, as they warned against speculating about his identity or details of the investigation. (AFP)
SOUTHPORT, United Kingdom – Violent clashes broke out on Tuesday in the northern England town where a mass stabbing at a Taylor Swift-themed dance event claimed the lives of three children.
Around 100 protesters battled police and lit fires, with thick plumes of smoke rising above the front line, according to an AFP reporter at the scene.
Videos circulating on social media appeared to show a police van on fire and protesters pelting police with missiles, with a local mosque the apparent target.
Police have said they are not treating Monday’s attack as terror-related, but have not released any details of the suspected attacker other than that he is 17 years old and originally from Wales.
Merseyside Police said an officer suffered a suspected broken nose in the clashes, and that the protesters were “believed to be supporters” of the right-wing English Defence League.
“Officers who are deployed are currently dealing with criminal behaviour and violence with bottles and wheelie bins being thrown at them,” added the force.
The violence broke out shortly after a vigil was held in the town centre, where hundreds fell silent in tribute to the victims and in a show of support for those affected.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer earlier visited the town, saying the tragedy “touches a nerve” with the whole country.
He was among a stream of people to pay tribute at the site of the attack that left five children and two adults with critical wounds. Three other children were hurt.
Laying flowers with hundreds of other wreaths, Starmer thanked emergency workers who responded to the stabbing spree and said: “I came here to pay my respects to the victims and families who are going through raw pain and grief that most of us can’t imagine — I can’t imagine, as a dad myself.”
However, he was heckled by a handful of by-standers as he laid flowers, with one man shouting: “How many more people will die on our streets, prime minister?”
Town in mourning
Nine-year-old Alice Dasilva Aguiar died in hospital early Tuesday, police said. Bebe King aged six and Elsie Dot Stancombe aged seven were the two who died Monday.
Police said the two wounded adults had been trying to protect the children. Tributes have already been paid to the bravery of dance and yoga teacher Leanne Lucas, who was among the victims.
US pop star Swift said she was “completely in shock” over “the loss of life and innocence, and the horrendous trauma inflicted on everyone”.
“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,” she added on Instagram.
Aguiar was the daughter of Portuguese parents from Madeira. “Her parents are in a state of shock,” Portugal’s communities minister Jose Cesario told AFP.
Her family said in a tribute, “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.”
Bebe King’s family said, “no words can describe the devastation that has hit our family as try to deal with the loss of our little girl Bebe.”
Residents of the seaside town said they were struggling to come to terms with the deaths.
“The town is in shock and in mourning”, local MP Patrick Hurley told AFP, calling it the “most horrific atrocity that Southport has experienced in living memory”.
It is a “very small town, a close-knit community and everybody will be intimately affected by this”, he added.
“I just cannot believe that it happened so close to home,” resident Leanne Hassan told reporters.
Local business owner Colin Parry recounted to UK media how he saw “about 10 kids go running past him, all bleeding”.
“One of them collapsed on the floor outside the neighbour next door,” he told the Press Association news agency.
‘Utterly horrific’
The teenager arrested on suspicion of murder and attempted murder is from the neighbouring village of Banks but was born in Cardiff, according to police.
Police said a name shared on social media was “incorrect and we would urge people not to speculate on details of the incident while the investigation is ongoing.”
Witnesses told UK media the attacker arrived at the scene in a taxi on Monday morning and entered the venue wearing a mask.
Armed officers detained the suspect later and seized a knife.
While such attacks are rare, Monday’s incident evoked memories of a school massacre in the Scottish town of Dunblane in 1996, which claimed the lives of 16 pupils and their teacher in Britain’s worst mass shooting.
King Charles III offered his “most heartfelt condolences, prayers and deepest sympathies” following the “utterly horrific” incident.