A 17-year-old boy has been charged in connection with a stabbing incident in Southport, England, where three children were killed and eleven others were injured during a Taylor Swift-themed dance workshop. The event occurred on the morning of July 29, 2024, at a property on Hart Street and subsequently spread to the surrounding area.
The suspect is a 17-year-old boy from Banks, Lancashire. The victims include three young girls who were killed and eleven others, including nine children and two adults, who were injured. The deceased children were identified as Alice Aguiar, Bebe King, and Elsie Dot Stancombe. One of the critically injured adults was Leanne Lucas, a dance teacher who tried to protect the children.
The mass murder took place at a children’s dance workshop. The attack resulted in the deaths of three children and injuries to nine other children and two adults. The suspect has been charged with multiple counts of murder and attempted murder.
The attacker who cannot be named for legal reasons is reportedly from an immigrant family who came to Britain from Rwanda seeking asylum. The family originally settled in Cardiff before later moving to Banks in Lancashire. Police state that the youth is 17 years of age and cannot be named and reiterate that a name circulating on social media is not that of the suspect.
Suspect is ‘quiet’ teenager
Neighbours reported seeing a heavy police presence at the semi-detached house where the suspect was living with his parents in the village of Banks, three miles from the scene of the attack,.
People who knew the teenager described him as an “introvert” who had been interested in karate and theatre, having once performed in a show at a West End theatre.
He was born in Cardiff but later moved to Merseyside with his parents, originally from Rwanda, and his brother. The siblings went to school locally but also became involved in a performing arts group, where they produced shows and films with other youngsters.
“I was in the same group as him,” a friend told The Telegraph. “He was quite quiet. They kind of just turned up and they said, ‘oh they’ve moved here from somewhere else, they are brand new to the community, they are trying to branch out and make friends and stuff’. That’s what we got told.
“He just kind of turned up one day in class and we were told to make him welcome. He’s come from quite far away.”
The friend said the group involved musical theatre, TV production and “singing and dancing” and also making “making their own movies”, adding that one of the major events was a show in London’s West End.
“It was just working in groups collaborating with people. They’d have a musical every year, like a big production and that would sometimes get done with other groups,” the friend said. “He was at one in London, he went to one in London on the West End.
The friend added: “I was in the same group as him. He was enjoying it, but he was never really... you know how musical theatre kids [are]; they are very extroverted. He wasn’t, he was very quiet. He got involved, but he was a lot quieter.”
‘Didn’t really talk about himself that much’
He added that he “didn’t really talk about himself that much” but did mention his family were originally from Rwanda.
However, he said that his older brother was “more outgoing, he was a lot more talkative, he was more in the crowd”, adding: “His Dad came across quite educated. He presented well.”
The father of the suspect’s friend said that while the suspect appeared to enjoy the theatre group, he was not pushing to be at the front of the stage. “He wasn’t a normal theatre kid,” he said. “He wasn’t pushing for main leads and stuff like that. When they went to London he’d just got involved [in the group], he enjoyed it.”
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