Southport stabbing: What we know about the victims and suspect

Three children have been killed in a stabbing during a dance class in Southport, a seaside town in northwest England. Ten people have been injured, and a young male suspect has been arrested by the police.

What happened and when?

• At 11:47am (10:47 GMT) on Monday, a knife attack took place at a Taylor Swift-themed dance and yoga workshop at a yoga studio for children.
• According to social media posts by the studio hosting the event, the class was for children aged six to 11.
• The event was meant to last from 10am to noon and was run by two women, a yoga instructor and a dance instructor.

Where is Southport?

• Southport is a seaside town 32km (20 miles) north of Liverpool. It is home to about 100,000 people.
• The incident took place on Hart Street in Southport.
• Both Southport and Liverpool are part of Merseyside county.
  

  Is knife crime on the rise in the UK?

  • The UK strictly regulates gun ownership. The National Crime Agency reported that levels of firearm crimes in the UK remain among the lowest globally. The year ending in March 2021 saw the lowest level of gun violence in at least five years.
  • The United States saw 4.31 deaths from gun violence per 100,000 people in 2021 while the UK had 0.013 deaths per 100,000, according to the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation.
  • Knife crimes, on the other hand, are common in the UK.
  • For a decade leading up to 2023, 38 percent of homicide cases involved a sharp object, according to the House of Commons Library.
  • According to a report published by the Office for National Statistics, “knife-enabled crime recorded by the police in the year ending September 2023 increased by 5 percent compared with the year ending September 2022”.
  • However, the statistics for knife crimes were still lower than they were before the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • Stabbing incidents have sporadically occurred in Southport. On Sunday, 38-year-old Mark Henderson was arrested for attempted murder after an 18-year-old transgender woman was stabbed. The victim is in stable condition.
  • In April, the Merseyside Police arrested three suspects from Southport in connection to a stabbing that took place in the city on March 29. They were a 17-year-old boy; a man, 25; and a woman, 51.

  What’s the latest from Southport?

  • The site of the attack is cordoned off by the police, and people have been laying flowers for the victims on a street that has now gone quiet.
  • In an X post on Monday, Merseyside Police said, “There is no wider threat to the public.”
  • A vigil will be held on Tuesday evening, the BBC quoted the Labour MP for Southport, Patrick Hurley, as saying.
  • Taylor Swift reacted to the deadly attack with a statement on Instagram. “The horror of yesterday’s attack in Southport is washing over me continuously and I’m just completely in shock,” Swift wrote on Tuesday. “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.”