Thousands of people gathered at a vigil to pay tribute to three girls killed in a knife attack at a Taylor Swift-themed holiday club in Southport.
Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, were fatally stabbed in the Merseyside town on Monday.
Bebe and Elsie died on Monday night while Alice died in hospital on Tuesday morning.
Many taking part in a vigil on Tuesday evening cried as they laid flowers and cards of remembrance outside Southport’s Atkinson arts venue.
But there were violent scenes in the town later on in the evening as police officers were injured after clashing with rioters outside a Southport mosque.
Parents pay tribute to ‘our princess’
In a statement shared after the three girls who were killed were named, Bebe’s family said: “No words can describe the devastation that has hit our family as we try to deal with the loss of our little girl Bebe.”
The family of Alice said: “Keep smiling and dancing like you love to do our princess, like we said before to you, you’re always our princess and no one would change that.
“Love from Your Hero Daddy and Mummy.”
The head of the school trust Alice and Bebe attended said the girls “will be in our hearts forever”.
Endeavour Learning Trust chief executive David Clayton said “no words can do justice to what has happened here in Southport”, as he paid tribute to Alice, a year 4 pupil at Churchtown Primary School, and former pupil Bebe.
The headteacher at Bebe’s school, Natasha Sandland, said “words cannot do justice to describe the grief” and described her as one of Marshside Primary’s “brightest and most wonderful shining stars”.
Farnborough Road Infant School headteacher Jennifer Sephton said the school was “heartbroken and devastated” by the death of their pupil Elsie.
Hours earlier, US pop superstar Taylor Swift said she was at a “complete loss” as to how to convey her sympathies to the families affected by the tragedy after it emerged the children were killed at an event themed around her music.
Five other children are still in a critical condition in hospital, while the exact conditions of three other children injured are not known – but they are all being treated in hospitals across Liverpool and Manchester.
Meanwhile, two adults who were critically injured in the attack have been named locally as yoga teacher Leanne Lucas, who co-organised the dance event for six to 11-year-olds, and John Hayes, who works at the Hart Space where the stabbings took place.
A 17-year-old boy from Banks in Lancashire was arrested and is being held on suspicion of murder and attempted murder following the stabbings on Hart Street.
A window cleaner told Sky News he “locked eyes” with the attacker when he entered the Hart Space after a colleague noticed an incident was unfolding outside the premises.
