A third young girl has succumbed to her injuries following a stabbing spree at a children’s Taylor Swift-themed event in the United Kingdom, police reported Tuesday. The pop star expressed her shock on social media, stating she was “in shock.”
Merseyside police responded to reports of a stabbing at a property in Southport, a seaside town about 20 miles north of Liverpool, just before noon on Monday.
Six-year-old Bebe King and seven-year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe were killed in the attack, while nine other children were injured, according to police.
A third victim, nine-year-old Alice Dasilva Aguiar, passed away on Tuesday morning in the hospital, authorities confirmed.
Alice was one of six wounded children initially in critical condition, along with two adults who were also stabbed, police reported.
The remaining five children and two adults continued to be in critical condition as of Tuesday, police said.
“We believe that the adults who were injured were bravely trying to protect the children who were being attacked,” stated Merseyside Police Chief Constable Serena Kennedy on Monday.
The motive behind the attack remains unclear, Kennedy added.
The children were attending a Taylor Swift-themed event at a dance school. A flyer for the event described it as a “Taylor Swift Yoga and Dance Workshop” for children between 6 and 11 years old, as noted in a post on the organizer’s Instagram.
Swift expressed her sorrow and disbelief on Instagram, saying the “horror” of the attack was “washing over me continuously.” She added, “The loss of life and innocence, and the horrendous trauma inflicted on everyone who was there, the families, and first responders… These were just little kids at a dance class. I am at a complete loss for how to even convey my sympathies to these families.”
A 17-year-old boy from Banks, a coastal village in Lancashire near Southport, has been arrested on suspicion of murder and attempted murder, police said. The suspect, whose name has not been released, was born in Cardiff, Wales.
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The “full circumstances” of the incident are still under investigation, Kennedy said, noting that the attack is not being treated as terror-related. Police are not searching for additional suspects, she added.
