Through her Instagram story, Taylor Swift has reacted to the gruesome stabbings at a Southport dance and yoga party themed to her music. The incident, which occurred on Monday, claimed the lives of three girls aged between 6 to 9 years old and severely injured eight more. Two adults were also hurt during the ordeal.
In a simple post of her handwriting against a black backdrop, Swift expressed her shock at the tragedy.
“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.”
The singer, currently on her final few European leg of The Eras Tour, was in “complete loss” for how to convey her sympathies for the bereaved families. She’s not the only one rattled by the horrific tragedy. Southport, a sleepy seaside town near Liverpool, England, is the last place where one would imagine such a thing to happen. On that fateful day, 17-year-old Axel Muganwa Rudakubana walked into a Taylor Swift-themed dance class for kids and started attacking them with a knife. Eyewitnesses described a chaotic aftermath of screaming little girls, bloodied and in shock, running away from Hart Space Studio, the venue of the event.
Rudakubana, a Cardiff-born teen of Rwandan ancestry, was arrested shortly after. He has now been charged with 10 counts of attempted murder and possession of an illegal weapon. His motive for the senseless murders remains a mystery.