LONDON (AP) 鈥� Bloodied children ran screaming from a dance and yoga class 鈥渓ike a scene from a horror movie鈥� to escape a teenager鈥檚 savage knife attack that killed two children and wounded 11 other people Monday in northwest England, police and witnesses said.
A 17-year-old boy was arrested on suspicion of murder and attempted murder in the stabbing in 麻豆视频port, a seaside town near Liverpool, Merseyside Police said. The motive was not clear, but police said detectives were not treating the attack as terror-related.
Nine children were wounded 鈥� six of them in critical condition 鈥� in the latest headline-grabbing attack amid that has stoked anxieties and led to calls for the government to do more to clamp down on bladed weapons.
Two wounded adults who tried to shield the pupils were in critical condition, police said.
鈥淲e believe the adults who were injured were bravely trying to protect the children who were being attacked,鈥� Merseyside Police Chief Constable Serena Kennedy said.
The Taylor Swift-themed workshop was held on the first week of school vacation for children aged about 6 to 11. The two-hour session was led by two women 鈥� a yoga instructor and a dance instructor 鈥� according to an online listing.
Witnesses described hearing blood-curdling screams and seeing children covered in blood emerging from the business that hosts everything from pregnancy workshops and meditation sessions to women's bootcamps.
鈥淭hey were in the road, running from the nursery,鈥� said Bare Varathan, who owns a shop nearby. 鈥淭hey had been stabbed, here, here, here, everywhere,鈥� indicating the neck, back and chest.
called the attack 鈥渉orrendous and deeply shocking.鈥� King Charles III sent his 鈥渃ondolences, prayers and deepest sympathies鈥� for those affected by the 鈥渦tterly horrific incident.鈥�
Police were called shortly before noon to a street where several small businesses are located behind rows of brick houses in the city of about 100,000.
The first officers who arrived were shocked to find so many casualties from the 鈥渇erocious attack,鈥� most of them children with serious injuries, Kennedy said.
Colin Parry, an auto body shop owner, said most of the stabbing victims appeared to be young girls.
鈥淭he mothers are coming here now and screaming," Parry said. 鈥淚t is like a scene from a horror movie. ... It鈥檚 like something from America, not like sunny 麻豆视频port.鈥�
The suspect, who has not been identified, lived in a village about 5 miles (8 kilometers) from the site of the attack, police said. He was originally from Cardiff, Wales.
Ryan Carney, who lives with his mother in the street, said his mother saw emergency workers carrying children 鈥渃overed in red, covered in blood. She said she could see the stab wounds in the backs of the children.鈥�
鈥淎ll this stuff never really happens around here,鈥� he said. 鈥淵ou hear of it, stabbings and stuff like that in major cities, your Manchesters, your Londons. This is sunny 麻豆视频port. That鈥檚 what people call it. The sun鈥檚 out. It鈥檚 a lovely place to be.鈥�
Britain鈥檚 worst attack on children occurred in 1996, when 43-year-old Thomas Hamilton shot 16 kindergarten pupils and their teacher dead in a school gymnasium in Dunblane, Scotland. The U.K. subsequently banned the private ownership of almost all handguns.
Mass shootings and killings with firearms are rare in Britain, where knives were used in about 40% of homicides in the year to March 2023.
Brian Melley And Jill Lawless, The Associated Press
