愛污传媒

World

    • Police clash with an unruly crowd gathered near the site of U.K. stabbing attack that killed 3 girls

    Share
    LONDON -

    Warning: This article contains graphic content that may be disturbing to readers. Discretion is advised.

    Far-right protesters fuelled by anger and false online rumours hurled bottles and stones at officers and set a police van ablaze Tuesday outside a northwest England mosque near where three girls were fatally stabbed a day earlier.

    The prime minister condemned the "thuggery" and said the crowd had hijacked what had earlier been a peaceful vigil attended by hundreds in the centre of Southport to mourn the dead and 10 surviving stabbing victims, seven of whom were in critical condition.

    Police said the unruly crowd was believed to be supporters of the English Defence League, a far-right group, and the unrest was inspired by rumours about the identity of the teenage suspect arrested on suspicion of murder and attempted murder.

    "There has been much speculation and hypothesis around the status of a 17-year-old male who is currently in police custody and some individuals are using this to bring violence and disorder to our streets," Merseyside Police Assistant Chief Constable Alex Goss said.

    Police previously said a suspect's name circulating on social media accounts was incorrect and the boy was born in Britain, contrary to online claims that he was an asylum seeker.

    The Liverpool Region Mosque Network posted a statement decrying the "heinous" stabbing as an attack against society that was unconnected to Islam.

    "A minority of people are attempting to portray that this inhumane act is somehow related to the Muslim community," the group said on the X social media platform. "Frankly it is not, and we must not let those who seek to divide us and spread hatred use this as an opportunity."

    An unruly crowd clashes with police, July 30, 2024, in Southport, northwest England, near where three girls were stabbed to death in a dance class the day before. (Richard McCarthy/PA via AP)

    Officers outside the Southport Mosque in riot gear were pelted with objects by members of the crowd, some of whom wore masks, amid chants of "No surrender!" and "English till I die!" Firecrackers exploded, sirens wailed and a helicopter hovering overhead added to the chaos.

    Some officers were bleeding after being struck by objects and police said one had a broken nose.

    A day earlier, a short distance from the turmoil, the girls had taken part in a Taylor Swift-themed dance and yoga workshop on the first week of summer vacation when a teen armed with a knife entered the studio and began a vicious attack, police said.

    "It's difficult to comprehend or put into words the horror of what happened," Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said while briefing members of Parliament. "What should have been a joyful start to the summer turned into an unspeakable tragedy."

    Alice Dasilva Aguiar, 9, Elsie Dot Stancombe, 7, and Bebe King, 6, died from their injuries, police said.

    "Keep smiling and dancing like you love to do our princess," Aguiar's parents said in a statement released by police. "Like we said before to you, you're always our princess and no one would change that."

    King's family said no words could describe their devastation at the loss "of our little girl Bebe."

    Floral tributes near the scene in Hart Street, Southport, Britain, July 30, 2024. (James Speakman/PA via AP)

    Eight children and two adults remained hospitalized after the attack in Southport. Both adults and five of the children were in critical condition.

    An emotional crowd that gathered in Southport outside The Atkinson theatre and museum in the early evening held a minute of silence for the victims.

    June Burns, the mayor of neighbouring Sefton, called for calm and respect and urged people to be good to one another. She said she was overcome with emotion when she visited the scene of the tragedy earlier.

    "It's unbelievable that we find ourselves laying flowers for little girls who just wanted to dance," she said.

    Swift said earlier on Instagram that she was "completely in shock" and still taking in "the horror" of the event.

    "These were just little kids at a dance class," she wrote. "I am at a complete loss for how to ever convey my sympathies to these families."

    People left flowers and stuffed animals in tribute at a police cordon on the street lined with brick houses in the seaside resort near Liverpool where the beach and pier attract vacationers. They also posted online messages of support for teacher Leanne Lucas, the organizer of the event, who was one of those attacked.

    The 17-year-old suspect was arrested on suspicion of murder and attempted murder shortly after the attacks just before noon. Police said he was born in Cardiff, Wales, and had lived for years in a village about three miles (five kilometres) from Southport. He has not yet been charged.

    The rampage is the latest shocking attack in a country where a recent rise in knife crime has stoked anxieties and led to calls for the government to do more to clamp down on bladed weapons, which are by far the most commonly used instruments in U.K. homicides.

    Prime Minister Keir Starmer was jeered by some as he visited the crime scene and lay a wreath of pink and white flowers with a handwritten note that said: "Our hearts are broken, there are no words for such profound loss. The nation's thoughts are with you."

    "How many more children?" one person yelled as Starmer was getting in his car. "Our kids are dead and you're leaving already?"

    Starmer told reporters earlier that he is determined to get a grip on high levels of knife crime but said it was not a day for politics.

    Police secure the area, where a man was detained and a knife seized after a number of people were injured in a reported stabbing, in Southport, Merseyside, England, July 29, 2024. (James Speakman/PA via AP)

    Witnesses described hearing screams and seeing children covered in blood in the mayhem outside the Hart Space, a community centre that hosts everything from pregnancy workshops and meditation sessions to women's boot camps.

    Joel Verite, a window cleaner riding in a van on his lunch break, said his colleague slammed on the brakes and reversed to where a woman was hanging on the side of a car covered in blood.

    "She just screamed at me: `He's killing kids over there. He's killing kids over there,"' Verite told Sky News.

    The woman, who was on the phone with police, directed him to where the violence was unfolding and then collapsed. Verite said he ran in the direction she had pointed.

    A woman honking the horn of her car caught his attention and he found her with five or six bloody children inside. The woman said she was trying to get the kids to safety.

    "It was like a scene you'd see on a disaster film," he said. "I can't explain to you how horrific it is what I saw."

    He ran to the dance studio, where he was startled to lock eyes with a man in a hooded tracksuit holding a knife at the top of the stairs.

    "All I saw was a knife and I thought: `There are more people in there,' and I just wanted to hurt him so bad," Verite said. "But I was scared for myself and I wanted to help people. So I came outside and I was screaming because I knew where he was."

    Britain's worst attack on children occurred in 1996, when 43-year-old Thomas Hamilton shot 16 kindergartners and their teacher dead in a school gymnasium in Dunblane, Scotland. The U.K. subsequently banned the private ownership of almost all handguns.

    Mass shootings and killings with firearms are exceptionally rare in Britain, where knives were used in about 40 per cent of homicides in the year to March 2023.

    Mass stabbings are also very rare, according to Iain Overton, executive director of Action on Armed Violence.

    "Most knife attacks are one-on-one and personal -- either domestic violence or gang related -- so this tragedy is very unusual and, accordingly, garners lots of media interest," Overton said. "This offers no comfort to the grieving families, of course."

    ------

    Associated Press journalist Danica Kirka contributed to this report.

    CTVNews.ca Top Stories

    The Saskatchewan Party has maintained its hold onto power 鈥 battling its way to a fifth consecutive majority government.

    The final count has been completed in B.C.鈥檚 nail-biting 2024 election, with incumbent Premier David Eby managing to clinch another victory for the NDP.

    A group of Cape Breton firefighters are apologizing after four people showed up at a Halloween dance dressed in what appeared to be Ku Klux Klan costumes.

    Marred by several delays, the trial of alleged human traffickers Lauriston and Amber Maloney finally got underway on Monday in a Bradford courtroom, with a woman who worked and lived with the couple testifying.

    The family and community of a woman who died in a Halifax Walmart is still waiting for answers.

    Canada

    • Suspended Ottawa lawyer James Bowie has been ordered to pay $235,000 in damages to a former client after he repeatedly suggested she pay for his legal services with oral sex and released personal details about her online after the allegations were reported by 愛污传媒 Ottawa.

    • A group of Cape Breton firefighters are apologizing after four people showed up at a Halloween dance dressed in what appeared to be Ku Klux Klan costumes.

    • Marred by several delays, the trial of alleged human traffickers Lauriston and Amber Maloney finally got underway on Monday in a Bradford courtroom, with a woman who worked and lived with the couple testifying.

    • The family and community of a woman who died in a Halifax Walmart is still waiting for answers.

    World

    Politics

    Health

    Sci-Tech

    Entertainment

    Business

    Lifestyle

    Sports

    • The Edmonton Oilers, who gave up three goals on six shots at Nationwide Arena, and trailed the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-0 after the first period, had more things to worry about than making a comeback on Monday night.

    • Another day, another chance for the Winnipeg Jets to extend their season opening winning streak.

    Autos

    Local Spotlight

    Epcor says it has removed more than 20,000 goldfish from an Edmonton stormwater pond.

    Witches and warlocks have been flocking to New Brunswick waterways this month, as a new Halloween tradition ripples across the province.

    New Brunswicker Jillea Godin鈥檚 elaborate cosplay pieces attract thousands to her online accounts, as well as requests from celebrities for their own pieces.

    A new resident at a Manitoba animal rescue has waddled her way into people's hearts.

    Hundreds of people ran to the music of German composer and pianist Beethoven Wednesday night in a unique race in Halifax.

    He is a familiar face to residents of a neighbourhood just west of Roncesvalles Avenue.

    A meteor lit up our region's sky last night 鈥 with a large fireball shooting across the horizon over Lake Erie at around 7:00 p.m.

    Residents of Ottawa's Rideauview neighbourhood say an aggressive wild turkey has become a problem.

    A man who lost his life while trying to rescue people from floodwaters, and a 13-year-old boy who saved his family from a dog attack, are among the Nova Scotians who received a medal for bravery Tuesday.

    • The final count has been completed in B.C.鈥檚 nail-biting 2024 election, with incumbent Premier David Eby managing to clinch another victory for the NDP.

    • Henrickson was a 17-year-old girl from Squamish who went missing after a house party on Bowen Island, during the then unusually warm summer of 2009.

    • Mandatory judicial recounts will happen in two B.C. ridings, further prolonging the province鈥檚 nail-bitingly close 2024 election and potentially impacting the outcome.

    • The TTC is sharing details about how it plans to cope with the massive influx of Taylor Swift fans into Toronto鈥檚 core during the superstar鈥檚 six-show stay in the city.

    • A 31-year-old man died in hospital over the weekend after being found critically injured in an underground parking garage in North York late last week.

    • An 'iconic' gorilla that has lived at the Toronto Zoo since it first opened in 1974 is experiencing health issues and will be kept from the public as he receives treatment.

    • Nearly a decade after Anthony Heffernan was fatally shot by a police officer inside a northeast Calgary hotel room, his family continues to fight for accountability.

    • The Alberta government introduced its promised amendment to the provincial Bill of Rights on the first day of the legislature's fall sitting on Monday, a move Premier Danielle Smith said will "strengthen" human rights protections and "ensure our province remains one of the freest societies in the world."

    • There was a serious crash Monday night involving a Calgary police cruiser and a passenger car on Macleod Trail and 12th Avenue S.E. near Stampede Park.

    • Police say the homicide unit is investigating after a man was stabbed and later died Monday night. One person has been arrested.

    • NEW THIS MORNING

      NEW THIS MORNING

      The City of Ottawa's Vacant Unit Tax could get tougher, with increasing penalties for properties that remain unoccupied for multiple years.

    • Grief counsellors are at Perth and District Collegiate Institute in Perth, Ont. today, as family, friends and the community mourn the death of 15-year-old Reese Stanzel.

    • A new study suggests Montrealers are going downtown less often with four in 10 saying they go less often than before the pandemic.

    • Montreal's mayor says a welcome sign depicting a woman wearing a veil that adorns a lobby at city hall will be taken down in the name of secularism.

    • Ottawa said it will not challenge a Quebec law that allows people to request medical assistance in dying (MAID) in advance.

    • Edmonton Police Service (EPS) has dismantled one of the 鈥榤ost elaborate encampments鈥 officers have ever seen.

    • Mikael Pyyhtia scored his first NHL goal, and the Columbus Blue Jackets whipped the Edmonton Oilers 6-1 on Monday night for their second straight home win.

    • The Alberta government introduced its promised amendment to the provincial Bill of Rights on the first day of the legislature's fall sitting on Monday, a move Premier Danielle Smith said will "strengthen" human rights protections and "ensure our province remains one of the freest societies in the world."

    • A group of Cape Breton firefighters are apologizing after four people showed up at a Halloween dance dressed in what appeared to be Ku Klux Klan costumes.

    • The Saint John Police Force is asking for the public鈥檚 help in locating a man wanted on a Canada-wide warrant in connection with a shooting incident in the city over the weekend.

    • Halifax Regional Police is investigating two break-and-enters in parking garages early Sunday morning.

    • The Pas residents are being asked to lock their doors and be on the lookout for an escaped inmate RCMP consider dangerous.

    • An assault on a woman at a University of Manitoba dorm room has left students on edge.

    • A Winnipeg woman is recovering after being run over by her own vehicle during a carjacking this weekend.

    • The Saskatchewan Party has maintained its hold onto power 鈥 battling its way to a fifth consecutive majority government.

    • Saskatchewan's 2024 provincial election was not kind to the Sask Party candidates defending seats in Regina and Saskatoon, with the vast majority being voted out at the time of the call late Monday night.

    • With multiple polls suggesting a tight race to the finish for Saskatchewan's major political parties 鈥 here are the ridings where some extra attention may be required.

    • What role does ideology play in the sentencing of the man who pleaded guilty to four charges in an attack at the University of Waterloo?

    • The Guelph Police Service is planning to dedicate more resources to ensuring public safety in the city鈥檚 downtown area as part of an ongoing initiative.

    • After 14 years of repairing and selling bicycles out of the garage of her home, a Guelph, Ont. woman鈥檚 efforts have ended 鈥 for now, at least.

    • The Saskatchewan Party has maintained its hold onto power 鈥 battling its way to a fifth consecutive majority government.

    • RCMP collision analysts are investigating after a school bus crashed southwest of Tisdale on Monday.

    • This provincial election is shaping up to be a nail biter, with data heading into today鈥檚 election showing the two front runners neck and neck.

    • Ontario Premier Doug Ford in Sudbury on Monday afternoon to make an infrastructure funding announcement at a wastewater facility.

    • A landlord in Sault Ste. Marie discriminated against a man who is deaf and has limited sight, the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal has ruled.

    • Two people were busted in Nipissing First Nation trying to use fake money to buy machinery, Anishinabek Police Service says.

    • South Bruce residents narrowly voted in favour of plans to bury Canada鈥檚 most radioactive nuclear waste under their municipality on Monday.

    • An Oxford County retirement residence at the centre of a fraud investigation has announced it will be closing its doors next month, leaving residents and their families with just a couple of weeks to find alternate accommodations.

    • A pickup truck and car collided in the Huron County village of Nile this afternoon, sending as many as five people to hospital.

    • A Midland senior has resorted to living in her shed out of desperation

    • Ontario鈥檚 Special Investigation Unit has not confirmed the identities of three people found dead inside a home in Huntsville as the community is left reeling.

    • The City of Orillia is getting set to honour its most famous son with a special festival this coming weekend.

    • Windsor police officers are asking for the public鈥檚 help to identify two suspects related to the death of a 69-year-old man in south-central Windsor.

    • A new study estimates $14 billion in milk has 鈥渄isappeared鈥 from Canada between 2012 and 2021.

    • With more and more people turning to food banks for help, operators in Windsor-Essex are looking for a government intervention.

    • The final count has been completed in B.C.鈥檚 nail-biting 2024 election, with incumbent Premier David Eby managing to clinch another victory for the NDP.

    • Mandatory judicial recounts will happen in two B.C. ridings, further prolonging the province鈥檚 nail-bitingly close 2024 election and potentially impacting the outcome.

    • Mounties are investigating after the remains of at least one person were found following a house fire on Vancouver Island on Monday morning.

    • More than two years after Alannah Brown and Douglas Barker were found dead north of Penticton, police are asking for help identifying a vehicle they believe was associated with the crime.

    • Dave Lindsey began growing giant pumpkins to bring a bit of magic to his grandkids' Halloween.

    • A U.S. District Court judge in Montana has sentenced a 27-year-old man from Kelowna, B.C., to 18 months in prison for using fake names to buy guns with the aim of selling them in Canada.

    • Food Banks Canada's annual Hunger Count report shows more Canadians than ever are resorting to food banks.

    • RCMP say a Medicine Hat man was killed in a collision between an SUV and a motorcycle in southeast Alberta on Sunday evening.

    • A tentative agreement has been reached between the City of Lethbridge and more than 900 employees belonging to CUPE Local 70.

    • A Sault Ste. Marie woman had a close encounter this weekend with a group of coyotes -- and her small dog just narrowly escaped serious injury.

    • A seminar took place Monday in North Bay with law enforcement agencies, traffic experts and other community partners looking to try and end impaired driving.

    • A landlord in Sault Ste. Marie discriminated against a man who is deaf and has limited sight, the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal has ruled.

    N.L.

    Shopping Trends

    The Shopping Trends team is independent of the journalists at 愛污传媒. We may earn a commission when you use our links to shop.聽Read about us.

    Stay Connected
    Follow 愛污传媒