Southport stabbings: Man describes coming face to face with knife-wielding attacker | UK News

A man who stopped to help at the scene of the stabbings in Southport described “staring” at the attacker and said seeing the injured children “will probably stay with me for the rest of my life”.

Speaking for the first time since it happened, Joel Verite detailed Monday’s tragedy moment by moment, initially being confronted by a horrific scene, with adults and children covered in blood.

He then remembers entering the building and finding the knife at the top of the stairs.

All three children killed in the attack named; follow the latest news from Southport

“I look up and see a guy with a knife,” he told Sky News correspondent Shingi Mararike.

“I just wanted to hurt him. But I was scared of myself and I wanted to help people.”

‘He’s killing children there’

The window cleaner was on his lunch break on Monday when his colleague noticed something going on outside The Hart Space, where the suspect launched a vicious attack on girls at a Taylor Swift-themed holiday club.

Three children died, eight others were injured and two adults were injured. The dead children have already been named such as Bebe King, aged six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, aged seven, and Alice Dasilva Aguiar, aged nine.

Yoga instructor Leanne Lucas, who was leading the Taylor Swift-themed workshop with her colleague Heidi Barlow, was among those injured and is in hospital, a relative told Sky News.

Describing what he saw, former Wigan and Salford rugby league player Verite said: “We were just listening to music in our own world, so he [his colleague] I hit the brakes and all I can see on my side is a girl hanging off the side of the car.

“I jumped out of the car and asked if she was okay. She looked in shock and had blood all over her body.

“She just screamed at me, ‘He’s killing kids over there, he’s killing kids over there.'”

Verite says he and his colleague realized the woman was injured and she fell to the ground.

See more information:
Witnesses describe stabbings
What we know so far

He took her phone to speak to the police and ran in the direction she was pointing.

When he arrived at the parking lot outside the venue on Hart Street, he came across another woman in a car with “four or five” injured children in the back seat.

“It was like a scene from a disaster movie,” he said. “The woman just looked at me and said, ‘I just want to make sure these kids are safe.'”

Verite says he helped one of the injured children before running toward the building’s entrance.

“I wanted to take her somewhere safe, but I didn’t know where it was safe. I was screaming for an ambulance. I wanted a professional to be there to know what to do.”

After leaving the injured child with her colleague, she was approached by another person, she says.

“Someone pointed out [towards the building] and said ‘he’s there’.”

‘All I saw was a knife’

Mr. Verite ran inside and up some steps when he saw the attacker.

“I opened the door and there was a staircase. I shouted hello to see if anyone was there. I look up and there’s a guy with a knife.

“Maybe he didn’t realize I was going to be there, but we exchanged glances and he ran away.”

Describing how he felt when he saw the suspect, he added: “All I saw was a knife and I thought, ‘There are more people there’, and I just wanted to hurt him so bad.

“But I was scared for myself and wanted to help people. So I went out and screamed because I knew where he was.”

Verite says he broke down the door to prevent the suspect from escaping before returning to the parking lot.

“I came out and I’m agitated now because I saw the guy. I’m screaming because I knew where he was,” she recalled.

‘It felt like a lifetime’

“I was shouting ‘where are the police, where are the police?’.”

He thinks it took about 10 minutes for any police officers to arrive, adding that “it felt like a lifetime.”

According to Verite, the first police officer who arrived instructed him to wait for backup before entering the dance studio, as he was only armed with a baton.

But when another arrived with a taser, everyone went back inside, where he said the attacker was detained.

Asked how he feels afterwards, he told Sky News: “I’m a new father and that was one of the hardest things for me – seeing these kids in that position.

“These kids weren’t crying – they were absolutely terrified – if that makes sense.

“Their parents are absolutely hysterical and are screaming and crying that they want to go into the building but they can’t because it’s a crime scene.

“They ask me questions wanting to know information. It’s heartbreaking.

“It made me sick and very upset for all the parents and all the children who had to go through this yesterday.

“I’m not going to label myself a hero. I’m glad I did what I did and I’m glad I was able to save at least one life – if not more. “