A local reporter has said that the "whole community is heartbroken" after the "harrowing" attacks in Southport yesterday.
Three children have been killed in a knife attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class and five other children remain in critical condition in hospital with stab injuries.
Two adults who are believed to have tried to protect the young victims also remain critically ill.
Editor of Southport Reporter, Patrick Trollope, told GB News: "We are in deep shock and utter disbelief. Not much you can actually say about it. There's no words that would describe the emotion of the local community.
Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine, (left to right) were killed in the attackPA"The community has pulled itself together and is trying to support itself, but it's a complete shock."
He added: "I've never known anything like it and I've lived here my whole life."
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In a message to the families of the victims he said: "The whole community is thinking about you.
"We are heartbroken. There's no words in our vocabulary that can actually get across the grief.
"The community is failing, and I'd not like to think about what those families are going through."
Merseyside Police said the three children's names and ages were Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine.
Local reporter Patrick Trollop told GB News that the whole community is heartbroken
GB News
In a tribute issued through the police, King'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."
While the family of Alice Aguiar 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."
A Merseyside Police statement said: "Their families, who are being supported by specialist officers, have issued photographs and have asked that their privacy is respected at this time."
Emergency services were called to Hart Street at around 12pm yesterday after the stabbings at a Taylor Swift-themed holiday club, before armed police detained a 17-year-old boy, seizing a knife.
The public have laid flowers near the scenePAThe teenage boy, born in Cardiff and confirmed by police to be from Banks in Lancashire, remains in custody following the stabbings.
The incident, for which the 17-year-old was arrested on suspicion of murder and attempted murder, is not being treated as terror-related.
A vigil for the dead and injured in the stabbings is set to be held on Tuesday evening, while local Sefton Council leader Marion Atkinson said: "Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone affected at this incredibly sad time."
