�* terrified of afraid been absolutely terrified of this incident which started at about 11:50am. they confirmed that about 11:58am about casualties and discredit a major incident that i declared it a major incident. a man is currently being held at the police station but as we were saying, unfortunately, the ambulance services are saying there were eight patients treated with stab injuries, some of whom have been taken to alder hey children's hospital and others at aintree university hospital and southport and hornby hospital, the local hospital in southport. so perhaps the most serious injuries would have been

taken there but of course some have been taken to the internationally famous alder hey children's hospital. famous alder hey children's hosital. ,., . . famous alder hey children's hosital. . ., hospital. the police have said there is no wider threat _ hospital. the police have said there is no wider threat to _ hospital. the police have said there is no wider threat to the _ hospital. the police have said there is no wider threat to the public - hospital. the police have said there is no wider threat to the public but. is no wider threat to the public but they deployed armed officers very quickly. they deployed armed officers very cuickl . ., , ., , ., ., quickly. how unusual is that? that is becoming _ quickly. how unusual is that? that is becoming increasingly _ quickly. how unusual is that? that is becoming increasingly common | quickly. how unusual is that? that - is becoming increasingly common when there are incidents involving knives so if you have the ability to deploy armed officers then you do. that's because armed officers will also be carrying tasers and it may be that response officers may not but also thatis response officers may not but also that is the automatic response if you can get an arm to vehicle their quickly, and that was what was possible in this incident and police are confirming within the hour that armed officers had been deployed and had detained somebody. that's not that unusual since the beginning of mass stabbing events we saw in 2017

and that's kind of hero. so the last ten years, has been quite common for armed officers to be deployed to these multiple stabbing incidents. stay with us while i let you get as much info as you can. we have more info from the ms tsai police commissioner who has said a man has been arrested following reports of a stabbing in southport this morning. she said an arrest has been made and there was no wider risks to the public. she said, i would urge people to be careful about what they share online and not speculate about this incident. let's go back to sean to fill in the gaps for us. firstly, we know some of the victims have been taking to alder hey children's hospital, some will be children obviously so we have to be careful about what we say and not speculate further about the extent of any injuries. i

further about the extent of any in'uries. ~ . �* , further about the extent of any in'uries. ~ ., �* , _, . further about the extent of any in'uries. ~ ., �*, . ~ , injuries. i think that's correct. as daniel pointed _ injuries. i think that's correct. as daniel pointed out, _ injuries. i think that's correct. as daniel pointed out, obviously - injuries. i think that's correct. as i daniel pointed out, obviously those could be taken to the hospital nearby if it was deemed rare travel safest, these would be clinical decisions made. to pick up on the point daniel was saying, the deployment of armed officers are so commonplace now. in addition to deployment, within a county force which merseyside is, they would be monitoring two channels on the police radio, one which they call county and that would monitor anything coming in and dispatched they also have local radios but central units like guns, drugs and so on, they will be monitoring. so you have to bear in mind that anybody who is wearing a uniform or could turn up to the area will hear the extent of that and probably would have made their way in the

first incidents. there's also a force control room ordinarily commando which attend to an oscar one and what they do is they are remote from the scene in principle but can see what's happening on cameras and can assign resources but you would expect any and all authorised officers in the area to be deployed or answer. the neutralisation appears to have been executed quite quickly there. the police and crime commissioner added to the statement that a male was arrested or detained by officers and taken to a police station rather than a hospital seek and read into that, they probably are not themselves injured and a knife.. to confirm the news that we're bringing you here on bbc news and on the live

page, it appears some of the eight people treated for stab wounds have been taken to children's hospitals in the fairly close vicinity. we will be very careful not to speculate about what we don't know. all information on the bbc news life web page as the afternoon continues. little over two hours ago that emergency services say they were called to hart street. we emergency services say they were called to hart street.— called to hart street. we are caettin called to hart street. we are getting more _ called to hart street. we are getting more information. i called to hart street. we are - getting more information. newsagency is giving upsetting info one of the biblical the police said he believed six or seven young girl had been stabbed. he said it's like a scene from a horror movie, police have got

him, he added. he said it's like something from america not sunny southport and this will be extremely shocking. . clearly this major incident will be very distressing for those local residents and wider afield as we continue to report on it. . �* , u, , afield as we continue to report on it. ., afield as we continue to report on it. that's the case and it's clear that even _ it. that's the case and it's clear that even outside _ it. that's the case and it's clear that even outside the _ it. that's the case and it's clear that even outside the local - that even outside the local community or social media, there's an awful lot of very emotive language. people are upset now it appears that we have pretty much can say children have been involved in this incident. enough time has passed that emergency services would have had the opportunity to speak to guardians and parents. the enormity of the situation is huge. the idea that children have been potentially injured in what police said was a reported stabbing, eight people treated. this will be a massive

shock to the whole community i doesn't matter what community you are in, you'd like to think you can keep your children safe so a lot of details coming out, you'll be deeply upset at anyone involved. colin reported to be a witness, that's one thing that witness testimony that it's notoriously a bit of a di jeavons from one person to another so details will emerge again. we will bring you the latest on the bbc news channel but will bring you the latest on the life page as well and i would expect shortly some big name politicians will come out tweeting their thoughts but having myself worked in the sphere of politics parliaments, i know that will have of leaders a major plus coup leaders, they like to give emergency services time to do theirjob and

give the stream time to develop before they put their foot into it. it looks to be an incredibly quick response by emergency services. we know is involved in north—west ambulance service and from the pictures we do see emerging, we know of the fire service has been involved as well. to recap the pitch for a while ago, what is happening here is the officers you can see in the photo are restricting any access to unnecessary folk to that scene. they do have a critical regions. yes, they have to deal with immediate scene that they have been faced with but also the need to preserve from a forensic point of view and crime investigation point of view and that scene they need to preserve to make sure they can gather all information and evidence and make sure the emergency workers have space to do their work. let and make sure the emergency workers

have space to do their work.— have space to do their work. let me brina ou have space to do their work. let me bring you the _ have space to do their work. let me bring you the latest. _ have space to do their work. let me bring you the latest. this _ have space to do their work. let me bring you the latest. this is - have space to do their work. let me bring you the latest. this is from . bring you the latest. this is from alder hey children's hospital where we know some victims have been taken. they declared a major incident and say they are working with other emergency services to respond and they are extremely busy. they ask parents to only bring their children to an emergency department if it is urgent and have said all other appointments are running as normal and to reiterate what the commissioner said a short while ago, emily spurrell said she shocked and concerned and not to speculate. let's go back to our correspondent. just before 11:50am this morning, the embolus were called to a report in southport, in hart street which

is a seaside town in merseyside and it seems that among those people who were being stabbed at that time were children and the police responded with armed officers, a man was detained at the scene according to the police and they responded with ambulances and air ambulance and say they have treated eight people for stab wounds. they have taken them to three different hospitals in the area including alder hey children's hospital and also southport hospital so they have multiple casualties and there are suggestions of possible fatalities as well and among those stabbed were children. that seems to be absolutely clear from the fact that some have been taken to alder hey and the hospital of course is

saying they are now dealing with a major incident and asking people not to come to the emergency department and alder hey hospital annecy really have too because these emergency departments become very quickly overwhelmed which is why they could major incidents and while all hospitals have protocols, you can see it's a beautiful day, the first monday of the school holidays, lots of families and children out and about. it's also a seaside town so there would be people perhaps heading to southport for the day and you can see from those images there that there is a large number of emergency vehicles on hart street which has been cordoned off. this would be within an hour or so of the incident having happened and you can still see a large presence of both police vehicles holding the cordoned

also emergency vehicles inside the cordon. it looks like emergency forces detain somebody, seized a knife and the ambulance service has dealt with eight people with stab injuries, some of whom have been taken to alder hey children's hospital and we have had this very grim eyewitness accounts from a man working at a local car repair shop saying he had seen multiple children with stab wounds so it looks like it's been an extremely serious incident involving children with a significant number of casualties, eight being mentioned by the ambulance service as having been treated by them. this is looking like a very serious incident that took place late morning today in southport on merseyside. find

southport on merseyside. and ambulance — southport on merseyside. and ambulance services are saying they sent 13 ambulances along with specialist resources of hazardous area response team, air ambulance and doctors to the scene. that's a huge response, a lot of resources. tar is what that entails.— tar is what that entails. what you are t in: tar is what that entails. what you are trying to _ tar is what that entails. what you are trying to deal _ tar is what that entails. what you are trying to deal with _ tar is what that entails. what you are trying to deal with is - tar is what that entails. what you are trying to deal with is this - are trying to deal with is this golden hour off when you need to treat people with stab injuries as quickly as possible so you have the ambulance resources, and each can take a patient to hospital so if that's the appropriate thing to get someone quickly away from the scene in an ambulance, then the air ambulance can move at greater speed and distance so specialist care where one of the patients needs further field and then doctors at the scene to treat people at the scene because increasingly with stab

injuries there has been a practice of trying to do some of the really early critical care at the scene so people have got the best chance of survival. so that is a fairly standard deployment to a major incident in terms of getting a large number of ambulances, incident in terms of getting a large number ofambulances, airambulance and doctors to the scene and then you can see in the third part of the statement on x, they said at that point that they treated eight patients with stab injuries and taken to alder hey children's hospital which is a specialist children's hospitalfor hospital which is a specialist children's hospital for the north—west, aintree investing hospital which is a high hospital and hospital and southport and formby hospital which is the nearest to hart street in southport and will have dealt with those casualties that needed immediate hospital care or those who need it slightly less

specialist care than alder hey patients or aintree patients. i should stress that merseyside police have said they believe the situation is over and contained, that a man has been detained and they have seized a knife so it doesn't look like this is an ongoing incident but ifear as the afternoon like this is an ongoing incident but i fear as the afternoon goes on and the seriousness of the incident is going to develop and we will get an idea of how many children have been involved in this incident and how severe the injuries are to the children. we need to keep looking out for fresh updates but i think at this stage, we have a sense of a very serious stabbing incidents involving children on hart street in southport but an incident that is over and it'sjust southport but an incident that is over and it's just the scale of it yet to be revealed.—

over and it's just the scale of it yet to be revealed. eight victims treated for— yet to be revealed. eight victims treated for stab _ yet to be revealed. eight victims treated for stab injuries - yet to be revealed. eight victimsl treated for stab injuries according to the north—west eminent service, taken to alder hey, aintree and southport and formby hospital. when we are looking at the pictures of what looks like a very busy streets, people making a point is the school holidays, children in the vicinity. what happens once there is a police cordon and people live within that? where do they go? what support is available for them? this where do they go? what support is available for them?— available for them? this is an issue that policing _ available for them? this is an issue that policing at _ available for them? this is an issue that policing at least _ available for them? this is an issue that policing at least if— available for them? this is an issue that policing at least if you - available for them? this is an issue that policing at least if you read - that policing at least if you read the textbooks within it were trained officers to be very sensitive to the fact communities have been displaced. that would often be down to the decision of the local commanders stop we don't have the details of where people have moved to better could be people havejust moved on from immediate area. the short period of time in the most

likely scenario situations. if it's felt is an assembly point, then that's a decision from emergency services. at this point, emergency services. at this point, emergency services will be very aware and people will be anxious about their children and families in safety. i think you can really read in the statements we have had from the police and emily spurrell that the situation has been neutralised. they have said it's been neutralised and they do not believe there is a wider threat to the public. 0ne they do not believe there is a wider threat to the public. one thing anyone who has followed police communications will tell you is communications will tell you is communications these days are very cautious. they don't say things that they are not absolutely convinced about, leaving aside the liability issues involved there. they won't reassure the community if reinsurance isn't something they feel they can do. so now police

officers and ambulance workers are all working together. the casualties at this point you would imagine will be very much processed as quickly as they can but what happens now is this turns into an evidence gathering situation because the denser who has been detained by officers and the knife seized, the suspect if you will, has been taken to a police station and will be taken to speak to a custody sergeant and asked for his details, they will ask questions about his welfare. he will have the option is to readers rights and put into a cell. at some point detectives will need to interview him. i point detectives will need to interview him.— point detectives will need to interview him. ,. , , ., interview him. i pause you there because we _ because we had a statement in which we showing on the screen from the labour mp for southport. he has posted this on social media saying i am deeply concerned by reports coming from merseyside police about the major incident on hart street in southport today. i'm hoping for the

best possible outcomes to the casualties affected. my thoughts go all those affected, those loved ones and the community. an individual has been detained and i'm free advice to avoid the area. it is there important for local politicians to give reaction quite quickly and reassure the communities and have a presence themselves. it is reassure the communities and have a presence themselves.— presence themselves. it is but i would exoect — presence themselves. it is but i would expect that _ presence themselves. it is but i would expect that kind - presence themselves. it is but i would expect that kind of- presence themselves. it is but i - would expect that kind of messaging to be echoed at some point from people like yvette cooper, the home secretary. so what will happen is the political consensus will gather behind, sending condolences. i think it's a very human reaction as well. people can quite easily point fingers at politicians and say they want to be involved for some reason but these are people who are living

with the reality that we all are, that there is incident where eight people are being treated and we can't get away from the fact there appeared to be children involved due to transportation to children's hospitals. they will want to send reinsurance but also any of us who believe we are in position to do anything you want to get involved and that brings us back to what we were saying earlier about the emergency services response and why you would expect a quick sharp to those types of incidents. to reiterate, reaction from alder hey children's hospital where some victims have been taken are saying they declared a major incident and are working with other emergency services to respond to this incident and our emergency department is extremely busy. they asked parents to only bring their children to the emergency department if it is urgent. we have got reporters heading to the scene and only have a couple of pictures in at the moment from what has happened there. there

will shortly be a huge media presence because this is a huge story and very unusual, this kind of mass stabbing.— story and very unusual, this kind of mass stabbing. yes. mass stabbing is absolutely terrifying _ mass stabbing. yes. mass stabbing is absolutely terrifying and _ mass stabbing. yes. mass stabbing is absolutely terrifying and thankfully i absolutely terrifying and thankfully quite rare. mass stabbing is evolving children are very, very rare and this looks on the face of it to be a mass stabbing in which more than one child has been injured. from my understanding there are multiple children amongst those who have been injured and i'm going to keep saying this. i fear we who have been injured and i'm going to keep saying this. ifear we may not only have injuries, there may be at least one fatality as well. this is looking like it will be a very serious incident involving children. what seems to have happened is a man with a knife has ended up stabbing a number of people, some of whom were children on hart street in southport

which is a seaside area of merseyside. it's the beginning of the school holidays and most schools broke up last week so it would have been a busy time for families, not only children present at any events but also multiple children just out on the street on a sunny day and you'll see that from the early images from the scene. north west ambulance service said they deployed 13 ambulances and an air ambulance and these merit doctors, specialist doctors in these kind of mass casualties events, they can either be kept back to give advice or deployed to the scene. north west ambulance service have clearly deployed at least one merit doctor going to the scene to give advice on

casualty evacuation, which casualties should be evacuated. you can see the first moving pictures from the scene coming in there now, a still ambulance staff present in the green uniforms, a large number of police vehicles, multiple layers of police vehicles, multiple layers of cordons, the white tapes another layer of cordons to stop people getting close to the scene and allow emergency service workers to do theirjobs. it is clearly something that has a large number of ambulance staff present and obviously police officers will be there to preserve the scene and do any kind of investigation work and early interviewing of eyewitnesses. there is stubbornly still abbott's staff around in those green uniforms that we saw and it has been described as a major incident by both the police

and ambulance service and alder hey children's hospital so this is clearly affecting all emergency services in merseyside because of the high number of casualties. we know at least eight people have been treated for stabbings according to north west ambulance service statement and reno police have detained a man and seized a knife. lots of people are still milling around. it's really distressing and shocking few hours for them. the police commissioner said she is shocked and concerned about the incident and urged people not to share online or speculate about this incident but this is a major investigation now for them. they have one person in custody and said they don't believe there any further threat to the public. what happens now with their investigation? haifa

now with their investigation? now the olice now with their investigation? ting-n" the police investigation, they need to assess the scale of it and it looks like they are something they are very clear on now. they seem to have one key suspect and weapon. then they will need to build up a timeline of events, trying to establish from eyewitnesses and forensics officers what actually happened during the stabbing incident itself, and then they will start to backtrack using cctv and door bell cameras and other eyewitnesses as to what happened in the build—up to the events where the suspect came from, what their demeanour was and the link between suspect and any of those caught up in the incident, any of those injured. that's what the centre of the investigation will focus on. so many young people around at the start of the holidays. you can only imagine what kind of anguish they are going through as this happened on their street. we had a statement

from yvette cooper on social media saying i'm deeply concerned about the very serious incident in southport. all my thoughts are with the loved ones of those affected and bacon rates as full support to the police and thanks to the emergency services and their response. to what extent will they be keeping informed by what's happening here? the? extent will they be keeping informed by what's happening here?— by what's happening here? they will be ke -t by what's happening here? they will be kept informed, _ by what's happening here? they will be kept informed, certainly - by what's happening here? they will be kept informed, certainly the - by what's happening here? they will. be kept informed, certainly the home secretary will have had a very direct briefing on what is happening. clearly the that happens at this moment, the twist in such stomach is this will turn into a multiple incident terrorism kind of thing where there are multiple scenes with multiple attackers. that moment seems to have passed and this

concern has gone. it looks like it is a single incident with multiple casualties and that probably means we don't necessarily see the kind of central government machine coming togetherfor central government machine coming together for a central government machine coming togetherfor a cobra meeting for example, the big emergency meetings in the event of big multi—scene events. it may well be a goes back to the local level but that isn't to underestimate the extreme seriousness of an event like this. to have that number of casualties in a single incident and involving children and three hospitals dealing with casualties mean this is an exceptionally serious incident and a terrible start to the school holidays. you have all seen pictures there of children not in school uniform for the first time this summer, everyone else in their back gardens with the hosepipes and

talking about going down to the seafront. that's what this day would have been about for all the families on hart street until about 11:58am or whenever it started, just before midday. that will have changed the whole mood of the holidays now because no matter how many fatalities this incident ends up having, is an incredibly scary and frightening thing to happen on a residential street at the beginning of school holidays. it will have a very severe impact and with all of these events, what lies behind it is something that will reveal itself slowly over many days, weeks or even months. we slowly over many days, weeks or even months. ~ ., slowly over many days, weeks or even months. ~ . .. ., slowly over many days, weeks or even months. ~ . ., ., , , months. we had reaction on the press association from _ months. we had reaction on the press association from one _ months. we had reaction on the press association from one local _ months. we had reaction on the press association from one local parent - months. we had reaction on the press association from one local parent we i association from one local parent we didn't want to be named but said his daughter was traumatised by the

attack and said his daughter was in it and traumatised, she ran away and is safe. clearly lots of children and families around as women saying. there speak to patrick who joins me now. welcome to you, tell us what more you know. welcome to you, tell us what more ou know. , ., ., you know. very little at the moment. listenin: you know. very little at the moment. listening to — you know. very little at the moment. listening to all— you know. very little at the moment. listening to all the _ you know. very little at the moment. listening to all the information - listening to all the information coming out in the press releases but we have been asked, please do not speculate on the current circumstances. the mood in the area is very, very, very flat and very low. everybody is dazed. 50. is very, very, very flat and very low. everybody is dazed. so, tell us what time you _ low. everybody is dazed. so, tell us what time you got _ low. everybody is dazed. so, tell us what time you got there _ low. everybody is dazed. so, tell us what time you got there and - low. everybody is dazed. so, tell us what time you got there and what i low. everybody is dazed. so, tell us l what time you got there and what you saw when you arrived. i got what time you got there and what you saw when you arrived.—

saw when you arrived. i got there about half — saw when you arrived. i got there about half an _ saw when you arrived. i got there about half an hour— saw when you arrived. i got there about half an hour after- saw when you arrived. i got there about half an hour after the - about half an hour after the incident happened and people, they had a cordon up and there wasn't much you could see other than a lot of people ambling around with dazed faces on. it was quite a shock. and faces on. it was quite a shock. and where there _ faces on. it was quite a shock. and where there still— faces on. it was quite a shock. and where there still a large police presence when you were there? where there many ambulances? there presence when you were there? where there many ambulances?— there many ambulances? there has been uuite there many ambulances? there has been quite a _ there many ambulances? there has been quite a few— there many ambulances? there has been quite a few ambulances - there many ambulances? there has been quite a few ambulances and l there many ambulances? there has been quite a few ambulances and a | been quite a few ambulances and a lot of police cars present, there still is. there is a very high police presence at the moment in the area. �* ., , ., , ., area. and how did you first find out that something _ area. and how did you first find out that something was _ area. and how did you first find out that something was happening - area. and how did you first find out i that something was happening there? we obviously got a phone call from somebody in the local area saying there is something odd happening down one of the roads locally, although police cars keep going down there so we turned up to have a look. �* ., there so we turned up to have a look. �* . ., ., , , look. and what have local residents been saying — look. and what have local residents been saying to _ look. and what have local residents been saying to you, _ look. and what have local residents been saying to you, have _ look. and what have local residents been saying to you, have you - look. and what have local residents been saying to you, have you had i look. and what have local residents been saying to you, have you had a| been saying to you, have you had a chance to talk to anybody? most been saying to you, have you had a chance to talk to anybody?- chance to talk to anybody? most of the residents _ chance to talk to anybody? most of the residents are _ chance to talk to anybody? most of the residents are keeping -

chance to talk to anybody? most of the residents are keeping very - chance to talk to anybody? most of| the residents are keeping very quiet about it and are