Police said the 9-year-old girl died at a hospital Tuesday morning.
LONDON — A third girl has died in a stabbing attack at a Taylor Swift-themed children’s event in the UK, police said Tuesday, with Swift reacting on social media, saying she was “shocked.”
Merseyside Police said officers rushed to the scene just before midday on Monday after reports of a stabbing at a home in Southport, a seaside town about 20 miles north of Liverpool.
Police said two girls, 6-year-old Bebe King and 7-year-old Elsie Dot Stancomb, were killed and nine other children were injured.
A third girl, 9-year-old Alice DaSilva Aguiar, died at a hospital on Tuesday morning, police said.
Police said Alice was one of six injured children who were in critical condition, including two adults who were stabbed.
The remaining five children and two adults remained in critical condition as of Tuesday, police said.
“We believe the injured adults were bravely trying to protect the children who were being attacked,” Detective Sergeant Serena Kennedy, of Merseyside Police, said on Monday.
The motive remains unclear, Kennedy said.
Merseyside Police said the children were taking part in a Taylor Swift-themed event at a dance school. A flyer for the two-hour event described it as a “Taylor Swift Yoga and Dance Workshop.” According to an Instagram post by the organizers, the event was aimed at children aged between six and 11 years old.
In an Instagram post, Swift said the “horror” of the attack had “hung me ever since” and that she was “in complete shock.”
“It was a loss of life and innocent people and a horrific trauma for everyone who was there, the families and the emergency responders,” she said. “These were young children who were attending dance classes. I just don’t know how to convey my sympathies to the families.”
Police said a 17-year-old boy from the Lancashire coastal village of Banks, outside Southport, had been arrested on suspicion of murder and attempted murder. The suspect, who has not been named, is said to be from Cardiff, Wales.
Kennedy added that the “full details” were still under investigation and the attack was not being investigated as a terrorism-related incident. Police were not seeking any additional suspects, he said.
