A spate of stabbings, riots and protests rocked United Kingdom this week. It started with a Monday incident in Southport, a chilling footage emerged Tuesday, of a masked figure pacing outside a house that police raided after a knifeman killed two children and injured 11 others at a Taylor Swift-themed dance workshop.
The person, wearing a green hoodie and a Covid-style face mask, can be seen walking back and forth outside the front door of the property around 20 minutes before Monday's rampage, which unfolded on nearby Hart Street at around 11.50am.
At about 1pm, police cars and armed officers are seen on the ITV footage swooping on the same £80,000 property in the village of Banks, Lancashire, which is less than 15 minutes from the scene.
It followed the deaths of two children in a 'ferocious' stabbing frenzy that left mothers arriving to pick up their kids from the holiday club screaming in horror.
As well as the two fatalities, 11 others, including nine more children, were stabbed at the sold-out dance, yoga and bracelet making workshop, which was just minutes from finishing.
Six children are fighting for their lives in hospital, as are two adults, who police said 'bravely tried to protect them' from the attack at the Hart Space Studios.
Businessman Jonathan Hayes was among those who tried to intervene. He was stabbed in the leg as he tried to disarm the knifeman after running to help when he heard the piercing screams from his office.
Footage has since emerged of paramedics treating injured children as people spilled out onto the quiet street 'screaming' and 'in tears'.
A 17-year-old boy, from Banks, remains in custody after being arrested on suspicion of murder and attempted murder.
As the nation reeled from the senseless violence, the attack was branded 'utterly horrific' by King Charles and 'horrendous and deeply shocking' by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.
The shocking nature of the frenzy -- likened to a scene out of a 'horror movie' -- was laid bare in a police press conference on Monday evening.
Merseyside Police Chief Constable Serena Kennedy said: 'My officers were called to reports of a stabbing at 11.47 this morning at an address in Southport.
'When they arrived, they were shocked to find that multiple people, many of whom were children, had been subjected to a ferocious attack and had suffered serious injuries.
'It is understood that the children were attending a Taylor Swift event at a dance hall when the offender, armed with a knife, walked into the premises and started to attack the children inside.
'We believe that the adults who were injured were bravely trying to protect the children who were being attacked.
'As a mum and a nana, I can't begin to imagine the pain and suffering that the families of the victims are going through.'
The casualties were taken to three hospitals, including the Alder Hey Children's Hospital in Liverpool which has declared a major incident.
Merseyside Police confirmed that a 17-year-old boy, originally from Cardiff but living in Banks, was arrested and is in police custody.
The hooded attacker allegedly arrived at the location in a taxi, exited the vehicle without paying and then entered the studio through the unlocked front door, The Telegraph reports.
It's understood that the door was left open amid the scorching heat.
It's believed he coincided his arrival with parents picking up their children from the workshop.
The children, aged seven to 11, were nearing the end of the £20 two-hour session, The Sun reports. The suspect then fled and locals reportedly barricaded their homes.
One resident said two female yoga teachers leading the class were wounded as they desperately tried to save the children.
He told The Sun: 'She was in the toilet, shut the door and locked it with one of the kids. The other got some kids to the fire exit.'
They added: 'I heard some lads from the builders yard and a window cleaner came out and tried to help. They heard shouting,
'Get the kids, get the kids'. I don't know if they've tackled him. I heard someone sat on him.
'A friend of mine, his two little daughters have been stabbed.
'Little girls were getting worked on in gardens and mums were crying their eyes out.'
The suspect, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was apprehended at a gym after a personal trainer helped to apprehend him, The Times reports.
The newspaper was also told that a neighbour took around ten girls to safety in his house and was helped by another resident.
'The community was coming together, everyone was trying to help,' he said. 'Everyone was trying to save the young kids.'
It has also emerged that businessman Jonathan Hayes tried to disarm the knifeman after hearing screams from his office.
The 63-year-old was stabbed in the leg after running into the studio to intervene.
His wife Helen, 57, said he tried to put himself between the knifeman and the children, adding to The Telegraph: 'Our office is in the same building as the dance studio, he heard screams and went outside, saw the attacker, saw that he had hurt a child and tried to take the knife off him and got stabbed in the leg.
'The dance studio is tucked away down a little alley, you wouldn't know that there was a children's dance studio there just by walking past – you would have to have known it was there.
'I've been with him all afternoon at the hospital. He's very upset that he wasn't able to be more help. Physically he will be okay, mentally I don't know.'
Detectives are still trying to establish the motive for this 'tragic incident', adding: 'We would urge people not to speculate while the investigation is ongoing.'
The force said that the incident was not being treated as 'terror-related' and that they are 'not looking for anyone else in connection with the incident'.
North-West Ambulance Service Cheshire and Merseyside head of service Dave Kitchin told the press conference that the knife attack will leave a 'lasting impact on the whole community'.
Following the press conference, King Charles released a statement saying: 'My wife and I have been profoundly shocked to hear of the utterly horrific incident in Southport today.
'We send out most heartfelt condolences, prayers and deepest sympathies to the families and loved ones of those who have so tragically lost their lives, and to all those affected by this truly appalling attack.'
The Prime Minister also offered his condolences to the victims and their families and friends, saying 'the whole country is deeply shocked'.
'I know I speak for everybody in the whole country in saying our thoughts and condolences are with the victims, their families, their friends and the wider community,' he added.
'It's almost impossible to imagine the grief that they're going through and the trauma that they are going through.'
Earlier on Monday, police said a male had been arrested and a knife had been seized. The force urged people to avoid the area but said there was 'no wider threat' to the public.
Ryan Carney, who lives with his mother Hayley on Hart Street, said he rushed home from work to be with her after she witnessed the terrible aftermath. He said: 'She went out and there was a woman who was screaming, saying she can't find her child.
'They let her into the cordon and she ran down and all she could hear was screaming and crying, saying, ''That's my child! That's my child!'''
There are thought to have been around 25 children aged between six and 11 taking part in the workshop for schoolkids in years two through to six when the horrific attack took place.
Onlookers said they saw a man in a 'black hood' arrive in a taxi with a knife before people were left on the street 'screaming' and 'in tears'
Locals said they saw children running from the building and assumed there had been a car accident because a vehicle was covered in blood.
But they quickly realised something more sinister had occurred when they saw 'seven to ten kids' who were 'injured and bleeding' outside the nursery.
One witness told how she heard a woman screaming and ran outside to find a young mother with her daughter - both covered in blood.
Deborah Parker, 57, who lives a few hundred yards from the studio, found the pair in a parked car. She told The Mirror: 'It had only just happened. I was opening the windows downstairs and a police car sped past.
'The lady was parked on the corner screaming 'help me, help me'. Of course I ran over, she was covered in blood, the mum. Her daughter was slumped in the passenger seat.
'She had gone to the children's club to pick her up and she came out saying 'mum, I've been stabbed'.'
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said she was 'deeply concerned' by the attack.
Witness Bare Varathan, 35, who owns a corner shop on Hart Street, said he was called by a staff member who told him, 'Boss, get to the shop!'
He said: 'I saw seven to ten kids outside the nursery. They were injured, bleeding.
'They were in the road, running from the nursery. They had been stabbed, here, here, here, everywhere. [Mr Varathan indicated the neck, back and chest area].
'They were all aged about ten. One of them was really seriously injured.
'I hope they will be OK. Only two police jeeps and ambulances arrived, then armed police came and took him out of the nursery. Somebody told me he had arrived in a taxi and had a knife.'
One resident, who lives on Hart Street but did not want to be named, said he was at home about midday when a woman pulled up outside in her car, screaming.
He said: 'She was screaming 'my daughter's been stabbed'. The woman was in hysterics. Then two police cars rushed up the street the other way.
'It was a mum with her 10-year-old daughter who had been stabbed. I helped to get her back up to where the police cars and ambulances were.
'She didn't look great but my focus was on getting her back up the street to get help.
'When I got back up the street there were a couple of kids on the floor being seen to by paramedics and, as I came back, more police cars were going down and more ambulances gradually started to arrive.'
A BBC reporter at the scene described one girl on a stretcher covered in blood with 'her parents running after her'.
The victims have been taken to Alder Hey Children's Hospital, Aintree University Hospital and Southport and Formby hospital.
A staff member at the Hart Space, who wanted to remain anonymous, said she had heard the suspect was wearing a 'black hood' when he reportedly stabbed multiple children.
They said: 'There were probably 25 children there because that's the max we have there and they had reached the max.
'I don't even know if the teachers are ok, they posted the other day that they were full for this Taylor Swift holiday club this morning.
Meanwhile riots are still ongoing in Southport, following the stabbing incident, as rioters clash with police outside a local mosque. Riot police were deployed to control the situation, which escalated with the burning of police vans and the throwing of objects at officers. The unrest was sparked by the community's frustration over the attack and the perceived lack of action by authorities.
