A witness of the mass stabbing that took place at a Taylor Swift-themed event in Southport, England is speaking out. The tragedy, which occurred on Monday, July 29, 2024, claimed the lives of three children and left several other victims critically wounded. Colin Parry, the owner of an auto body shop near where the stabbing took place, opened up to BBC News about the aftermath of the tragedy.
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Parry described it as 'mayhem.'
Parry said that one of his employees called him after going to the building next door and said they'd heard what sounded like children screaming. The owner ran outside and saw kids bleeding. “It was the worst thing I’ve seen ever in my life,” he said.
Mothers were screaming at the scene.
The auto shop owner said that when mothers started arriving at the scene they were screaming and that it was "like a scene from a horror movie" right before his eyes.
"Why? Why would you do these things to these kids?" he questioned. "It's horrific."
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Other witnesses described the tragedy.
Tim Johnson, a journalist, said he arrived 20 minutes after the police were called and saw a little girl on a stretcher. "Her parents were running after her. It was horrendous. I’ve never seen anything like it," he recalled. "I saw ambulance men and women in tears. People were in tears in the streets."
Here are the victims.
The three children who died in the attack were identified as 6-year-old Bebe King, 7-year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe, and 9-year-old Alice Dasilva Aguiar. The girls, along with the other wounded victims, were attending a Taylor Swift-themed event at a dance school when the 17-year-old suspect entered the property and began attacking those present.
Taylor Swift spoke out.
Taylor Swift spoke out about the tragedy via her Instagram Stories. "The horror of yesterday's attack in Southport is washing over me continuously, and I'm just completely in shock," she wrote. "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 ever convey my sympathies to these families."
