Taylor Swift said she was “totally shocked” by the frenzied stabbing attack that left two young children dead and nearly a dozen others injured during a British dance workshop themed around her music early Tuesday.
The pop star said she was still coming to terms with the “horror” of the attack, which left two young children dead, 11 injured, two heroic adults who tried to save them and six children still in a critical condition on Tuesday and a 17-year-old boy arrested on suspicion of attempted murder.
“They were just little kids going to dance class,” the “Love Story” singer said in a post to her Instagram Story on Tuesday.
“I have no idea how to convey my condolences to the family,” she added.
The horrific mass stabbing incident took place just before midday in Southport, northwest England, at a yoga and dance workshop set to Swift’s music.
Sergeant Serena Kennedy, of Merseyside Police, said the attack left two children dead, nine injured, six of whom are in critical condition, and two adults in a serious condition after being stabbed while “bravely trying to protect their children”.
Witnesses said the attacker was wearing a “black hoodie” when he entered Heart Space, which also has a daycare center and advertises “Taylor Swift-themed mornings of yoga, dancing and bracelet making.”
Witnesses said at least 25 children aged between six and 11 were at the event when the massacre occurred, and that the knife-wielding man arrived at the scene in a taxi.
Officers called to the scene were “shocked to find multiple individuals, many of whom were children, had been the victim of a vicious attack and suffered serious injuries,” Kennedy said.
“As a mother and a grandmother, I cannot even begin to imagine the pain and suffering that the families and victims are going through right now.”
A 17-year-old male was arrested, police said, adding that the attack was “not being treated as terrorism-related at this time.”
Police have not revealed a motive for the attack.
