At least 8 hurt including children in stabbings in northwest England. A man is arrested

Emergency services say at least eight people, some of them children, have been injured in stabbings in northwest England

At least 8 hurt including children in stabbings in northwest England. A man is arrestedThe Associated PressLONDON

LONDON (AP) — At least eight people, some of them children, were injured in stabbings in northwest England on Monday, emergency services said. Police said they had detained a man and seized a knife.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer called the attack “horrendous and deeply shocking.”

Merseyside Police said officers were called at about noon to an address in Southport, a seaside town near Liverpool, to what it called a “major incident,” but said there was no wider threat to the public. The force asked people to avoid the area. Photos showed several police cars, ambulances and a fire engine behind cordon tape on a street lined with houses.

The North West Ambulance Service said medics treated eight people with stab injuries. The injured were taken to local hospitals, including a children’s hospital.

Colin Parry, who owns an auto repair shop near the site of the attack, said he believed several children had been stabbed.

“It’s like something from America, not like sunny Southport,” he said.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said on social network X that she was “deeply concerned at the very serious incident.”