Taylor Swift said she is “completely in shock” after a knife attack at a dance class themed around the American singer left three children dead and others injured in Southport, England.
The singer wrote on Instagram that “the horror of yesterday’s attack in Southport is continually consuming me and I am in complete shock.”
“The loss of life and innocence, and the horrendous trauma inflicted on everyone who was there, the families and the first responders,” she added. “They were just kids in a dance class.”
The violence stunned the UK and left police quickly trying to figure out why such a devastating incident occurred in the country, where gun ownership is heavily restricted but knife crime has been described as a “national crisis”.
A 17-year-old boy was arrested at the scene on “suspicion of murder and attempted murder.
“I don’t know how to express my condolences to these families,” Swift wrote in her Instagram post.
Two children died on Monday (29) and, the following day, Merseyside Police reported that a third child had died.
A police statement said: “The nine-year-old girl died in hospital in the early hours of this morning, Tuesday 30 July. We can confirm that the children who died yesterday were girls aged six and seven.
“Eight other children suffered stab wounds during the attack, and five of them are in critical condition. Two adults are also in critical condition after being injured during the incident.”
Merseyside Police Chief Constable Serena Kennedy said police are aware the attacker entered the premises armed with a knife and began attacking the children.
“We believe that the injured adults were courageously trying to protect the children who were being attacked,” she said at a press conference on Monday night (29).
King Charles III and his wife Queen Camilla were also “deeply shocked” by Monday’s incident.
“My wife and I were deeply shocked to learn of the utterly horrific incident in Southport,” King Charles said in a statement shared on the royal family’s official social media channels on Monday.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer also responded to the events, saying in a video shared with broadcasters that “the whole country” was “deeply shocked by what they saw” in Southport.
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