LONDON — Armed police in Southport in North West England detained a man with a knife midday Monday after a number of people were injured in a mass stabbing, Merseyside Police said in a statement.
Describing it as a “major incident,” the police said: “There are a number of reported casualties and more details will be confirmed when possible.”
The North West Ambulance Service said it responded to “reports of multiple stabbings in which we have dispatched multiple resources.”
The ambulance service said it had treated eight patients with stab injuries who have been taken to Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, Aintree University Hospital and Southport and Formby Hospital.
The incident was reported just before noon local time, police said, at a property on Hart Street, a mostly residential road of two-story brick buildings with some scattered shops.
A local journalist, Tim Johnson of Eye on Southport, told the BBC that the stabbings appeared to have taken place at a small community center.
Johnson said the victims were children and that he saw a bloodied girl on a stretcher.
“Her parents were running after her. It was horrendous. I’ve never seen anything like it,” Johnson told the broadcaster.
The BBC reported that a “Taylor Swift Yoga and Dance Workshop” for primary schoolchildren was taking place near the scene.
BBC Radio interviewed a man who he said saw young girls “bleeding.” A Press Association reporter interviewed a man who said some of the victims appeared around 10 years old.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer described the incident as “horrendous and deeply shocking news.”
Merseyside Police Commissioner Emily Spurrell confirmed that one man was detained and taken to a police station. She asked the public not to spread rumors.
A motive was not immediately clear.
The police said there was no wider threat to the public and requested that people avoid the area.
Southport is a seaside town known for its beaches and Victorian architecture, about an hour’s drive north of Liverpool. It has a population of about 95,000.
Monday was the first day of the school summer holidays.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
English (US) · 