Police clash with a violent crowd gathered near the site of UK stabbing attack that killed 3 girls

LONDON (AP) — Far-right protesters fueled by anger and false online rumors hurled bottles and stones at police, wounding more than 20 officers Tuesday outside a northwest England mosque near where three girls were fatally stabbed a day earlier.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer condemned the “thuggery” and said the crowd had hijacked what had earlier been a peaceful vigil attended by hundreds in the center of Southport to mourn the dead and 10 surviving stabbing victims, seven of whom were in critical condition.

Police said the violent crowd that torched a police van and several cars was believed to be supporters of the English Defence League, a far-right group, and the mayhem was inspired by rumors about the identity of the teenage suspect arrested on suspicion of murder and attempted murder.

“There has been much speculation and hypothesis around the status of a 17-year-old male who is currently in police custody and some individuals are using this to bring violence and disorder to our streets,” Merseyside Police Assistant Chief Constable Alex Goss said.

Police previously said a suspect's name circulating on social media was incorrect and the boy was born in Britain, contrary to online claims he was an asylum seeker.

The Liverpool Region Mosque Network posted a statement decrying the “heinous” stabbing as an attack against society that was unconnected to Islam.

“A minority of people are attempting to portray that this inhumane act is somehow related to the Muslim community," the group said on the X social media platform. "Frankly it is not, and we must not let those who seek to divide us and spread hatred use this as an opportunity.”

Officers outside the Southport Mosque in riot gear were pelted with bricks torn from garden walls in the residential neighborhood by members of the crowd, some of whom wore masks, amid chants of “No surrender!” and “English till I die!” Firecrackers exploded, sirens wailed and a helicopter hovering overhead added to the chaos.

Twenty-two officers were hurt, with eight suffering from more serious injuries that included fractures, lacerations and a concussion. Two police dogs were wounded by bricks and a third suffered burns.

A day earlier, a short distance from the turmoil, the girls had taken part in a Taylor Swift-themed dance and yoga workshop on the first week of summer vacation when a teen armed with a knife entered the studio and began a vicious attack, police said.

“It’s difficult to comprehend or put into words the horror of what happened,” Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said while briefing members of Parliament. “What should have been a joyful start to the summer turned into an unspeakable tragedy.”

Alice Dasilva Aguiar, 9, Elsie Dot Stancombe, 7, and Bebe King, 6, died from their injuries, police said.

“Keep smiling and dancing like you love to do our princess,” Aguiar’s parents said in a statement released by police. “Like we said before to you, you’re always our princess and no one would change that.”

King's family said no words could describe their devastation at the loss "of our little girl Bebe.”

Eight children and two adults remained hospitalized after the attack in Southport. Both adults and five of the children were in critical condition.

An emotional crowd that gathered in Southport outside The Atkinson theater and museum in the early evening held a minute of silence for the victims.

June Burns, the mayor of the Sefton region that contains Southport, called for calm and respect and urged people to be good to one another. She said she was overcome with emotion when she visited the scene of the tragedy earlier.

“It’s unbelievable that we find ourselves laying flowers for little girls who just wanted to dance,” she said.

Swift said earlier on Instagram that she was “completely in shock” and still taking in “the horror” of the event.

“These were just little kids at a dance class," she wrote. “I am at a complete loss for how to ever convey my sympathies to these families.”

People left flowers and stuffed animals in tribute at a police cordon on the street lined with brick houses in the seaside resort near Liverpool where the beach and pier attract vacationers. They also posted online messages of support for teacher Leanne Lucas, the organizer of the event, who was one of those attacked.

The 17-year-old suspect was arrested on suspicion of murder and attempted murder shortly after the attacks just before noon. Police said he was born in Cardiff, Wales, and had lived for years in a village about 3 miles (5 kilometers) from Southport. He has not yet been charged.

The rampage is the latest shocking attack in a country where a recent rise in knife crime has stoked anxieties and led to calls for the government to do more to clamp down on bladed weapons, which are by far the most commonly used instruments in U.K. homicides.

The prime minister was jeered by some as he visited the crime scene and lay a wreath of pink and white flowers with a handwritten note that said: “Our hearts are broken, there are no words for such profound loss. The nation’s thoughts are with you.”

“How many more children?” one person yelled as Starmer was getting in his car. “Our kids are dead and you’re leaving already?”

Starmer told reporters earlier that he is determined to get a grip on high levels of knife crime but said it was not a day for politics.

Witnesses described hearing screams and seeing children covered in blood in the mayhem outside the Hart Space, a community center that hosts everything from pregnancy workshops to women’s boot camps.

Joel Verite, a window cleaner riding in a van on his lunch break, said his colleague slammed on the brakes and reversed to where a woman was hanging on the side of a car covered in blood.

“She just screamed at me: ‘He’s killing kids over there. He’s killing kids over there,’” Verite told Sky News.

The woman, who was on the phone with police, directed him to where the violence was unfolding and then collapsed. Verite said he ran in the direction she had pointed.

A woman honking the horn of her car caught his attention and he found her with five or six bloody children inside. The woman said she was trying to get the kids to safety.

“It was like a scene you’d see on a disaster film,” he said. “I can’t explain to you how horrific it is what I saw.”

He ran to the dance studio, where he was startled to lock eyes with a man in a hooded tracksuit holding a knife at the top of the stairs.

“All I saw was a knife and I thought: ‘There are more people in there,’ and I just wanted to hurt him so bad,” Verite said. “But I was scared for myself and I wanted to help people. So I came outside and I was screaming because I knew where he was.”

Britain’s worst attack on children occurred in 1996, when 43-year-old Thomas Hamilton shot 16 kindergartners and their teacher dead in a school gymnasium in Dunblane, Scotland. The U.K. subsequently banned the private ownership of almost all handguns.

Mass shootings and killings with firearms are exceptionally rare in Britain, where knives were used in about 40% of homicides in the year to March 2023.

Mass stabbings are also very rare, according to Iain Overton, executive director of Action on Armed Violence.

“Most knife attacks are one-on-one and personal — either domestic violence or gang related — so this tragedy is very unusual and, accordingly, garners lots of media interest,” Overton said. "This offers no comfort to the grieving families, of course."

Associated Press journalist Danica Kirka contributed to this report.

An unruly crowd clash with police, Tuesday, July 30, 2024, in Southport, northwest England, near where three girls were stabbed to death in a dance class the day before. The violence erupted shortly after a peaceful vigil was attended by hundreds in the center of Southport to mourn the 13 victims of the stabbings, including seven still in critical condition. (Richard McCarthy/PA via AP)

People leave flowers near the scene in Hart Street where two children died and nine were injured in a knife attack during a Taylor Swift event at a dance school on Monday, in Southport, England, Tuesday, July 30, 2024. Taylor Swift says she is “completely in shock” after two children died in a stabbing attack in a dance and yoga class themed on the singer. (James Speakman/PA via AP)

A police van, rear, burns as police line up after clashing with an unruly crowd, Tuesday, July 30, 2024, in Southport, northwest England, near where three girls were stabbed to death in a dance class the day before. The violence erupted shortly after a peaceful vigil was attended by hundreds in the center of Southport to mourn the 13 victims of the stabbings, including seven still in critical condition. (Pat Hurst/PA via AP)

An unruly crowd clash with police, Tuesday, July 30, 2024, in Southport, northwest England, near where three girls were stabbed to death in a dance class the day before. The violence erupted shortly after a peaceful vigil was attended by hundreds in the center of Southport to mourn the 13 victims of the stabbings, including seven still in critical condition. (Richard McCarthy/PA via AP)

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, center, carries a floral tribute near the scene in Hart Street, where three children died and eight were injured in a knife attack during a Taylor Swift event at a dance school on Monday, in Southport, England, Tuesday, July 30, 2024. (James Speakman/PA via AP)

A police van buns as and unruly crowd clashed with police, Tuesday, July 30, 2024, in Southport, northwest England, near where three girls were stabbed to death in a dance class the day before. The violence erupted shortly after a peaceful vigil was attended by hundreds in the center of Southport to mourn the 13 victims of the stabbings, including seven still in critical condition. (Richard McCarthy/PA via AP)

An unruly crowd clash with police, Tuesday, July 30, 2024, in Southport, northwest England, near where three girls were stabbed to death in a dance class the day before. The violence erupted shortly after a peaceful vigil was attended by hundreds in the center of Southport to mourn the 13 victims of the stabbings, including seven still in critical condition. (Richard McCarthy/PA via AP)

Floral tributes near the scene in Hart Street, Southport, Britain, Tuesday July 30, 2024, where two children died and nine were injured in a "ferocious" knife attack during a Taylor Swift event at a dance school on Monday. A 17-year-old male from Banks, Lancashire, has been arrested on suspicion of murder and attempted murder over the incident. (James Speakman/PA via AP)

Police secure the area, where a man has been detained and a knife has been seized after a number of people were injured in a reported stabbing, in Southport, Merseyside, England, Monday July 29, 2024. (James Speakman/PA via AP)

A police scenes of crime officer (SOCO) works at the scene in Southport, Merseyside, where a man has been detained and a knife has been seized after a number of people were injured in a reported stabbing, Monday July 29, 2024. (James Speakman/PA via AP)

Emergency services work at the scene in Southport, England, where a man has been detained and a knife has been seized after a number of people were injured in a reported stabbing, Monday July 29, 2024. (James Speakman/PA via AP)

Emergency personnel comfort members of the public near the scene in Hart Street, where three children died and eight were injured in a knife attack during a Taylor Swift event at a dance school on Monday, in Southport, England, Tuesday, July 30, 2024. (James Speakman/PA via AP)

Members of the public look at the floral tributes near the scene in Hart Street, in Southport, England, Tuesday, July 30, 2024, where three children died and eight were injured in a knife attack during a Taylor Swift event at a dance school on Monday. (James Speakman/PA via AP)

The screenshot shows Taylor Swifts' Instagram response to the stabbing in Southport, Tuesday, July 30, 2024. Three children died and eight were injured in a knife attack during a Taylor Swift event at a dance school on Monday, in Southport, England. (AP Photo)

Members of the public take part in a vigil near the scene in Hart Street, in Southport, England, Tuesday, July 30, 2024, where three children died and eight were injured in a knife attack during a Taylor Swift event at a dance school on Monday. (James Speakman/PA via AP)

Members of the public take part in a vigil near the scene in Hart Street, in Southport, England, Tuesday, July 30, 2024, where three children died and eight were injured in a knife attack during a Taylor Swift event at a dance school on Monday. (James Speakman/PA via AP)

British Home Secretary Yvette Cooper looks at tributes near the scene in Hart Street where two children died and nine were injured in a knife attack during a Taylor Swift event at a dance school on Monday, in Southport, England, Tuesday, July 30, 2024. Taylor Swift says she is “completely in shock” after two children died in a stabbing attack in a dance and yoga class themed on the singer. (James Speakman/PA via AP)

Floral tributes near the scene in Hart Street, Southport, Britain, Tuesday July 30, 2024, where two children died and nine were injured in a "ferocious" knife attack during a Taylor Swift event at a dance school on Monday. A 17-year-old male from Banks, Lancashire, has been arrested on suspicion of murder and attempted murder over the incident. (James Speakman/PA via AP)

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, third from left, observes floral tributes near the scene in Hart Street, where three children died and eight were injured in a knife attack during a Taylor Swift event at a dance school on Monday, in Southport, England, Tuesday, July 30, 2024. (James Speakman/PA via AP)

An elderly couple leaves a floral tribute near the scene in Hart Street, where three children died and eight were injured in a knife attack during a Taylor Swift event at a dance school on Monday, in Southport, England, Tuesday, July 30, 2024. (James Speakman/PA via AP)

Members of the public take part in a vigil near the scene in Hart Street, in Southport, England, Tuesday, July 30, 2024, where three children died and eight were injured in a knife attack during a Taylor Swift event at a dance school on Monday. (James Speakman/PA via AP)

HIGHLAND, Calif. (AP) — An out-of-control wildfire in the foothills of a national forest east of Los Angeles threatened ten of thousands of buildings and forced hundreds of residents to flee Sunday amid a days-long heat wave of triple-digit temperatures.

The so-called Line Fire was burning along the edge of the San Bernardino National Forest, about 65 miles (105 kilometers) east of Los Angeles. As of Sunday morning, the blaze had charred about 27 square miles (70 square kilometers) of grass and chaparral, leaving a thick cloud of dark smoke blanketing the area.

The fire burned so hot Saturday that it created its own thunderstorm-like weather systems of pyroculumus clouds, which could bring more challenging conditions such as gusty winds and lightning strikes, according to the National Weather Service. Firefighters also faced steep terrain, which limited their ability to control the blaze, officials said. The fire remained uncontained Sunday afternoon.

County officials, who declared an emergency Saturday evening, issued evacuation orders for Running Springs, Arrowbear Lake, areas east of Highway 330 and other regions.

Running Springs resident Steven Michael King said he had planned to stay to fight the fire and help his neighbors until Sunday morning, when the fire escalated. He had prepped his house to prevent fire damage but decided to leave out of fear smoke could keep him from finding a way out later.

"It came down to, which is worse, being trapped or being in a shelter?” he said outside an evacuation center Sunday. “When conditions changed, I had to make a quick decision, just a couple of packs and it all fits in a shopping cart.”

Arrowbear Lake resident Michael Lee said he left his home with his dog Saturday afternoon. Lee, a photographer, had turned back to retrieve a camera and didn't get to the evacuation center in Highland until nearly seven hours later.

“I wanna get back to home,” Lee said sitting in his car outside the evacuation center. “The triple-digit weather down here is nasty.”

State firefighters said three firefighters had been injured and more than 35,000 structures were threatened, including single and multi-family homes and commercial buildings. Thunderstorms expected later in the day could make it even more challenging to rein in the fire.

“Afternoon thunderstorms could cause new ignitions and potentially influence activity around the fire perimeter,” state firefighters said in a Sunday morning update. “Hot and dry conditions mixed with thunderstorms are expected to challenge firefighters for the next few days.”

The affected area is near small mountain towns in the San Bernardino National Forest where Southern California residents ski in the winter and mountain bike in the summer. Running Springs is on the route to the popular ski resort town of Big Bear.

Joe Franco, a worker at Noah's Restaurant in the downtown section of San Bernardino, said his friends in the surrounding evacuation zones were gearing up to leave at a moment’s notice. Smoke from the fire had already blanketed downtown San Bernardino, Franco said.

“They’re just kind of hanging on tight and getting their stuff ready to move,” Franco said of his friends. ”Normally they're here, but a lot of people are not coming today."

The fire prompted Redlands Unified School District to cancel Monday classes for roughly 20,000 students.

Gov. Gavin Newsom proclaimed a state of emergency for San Bernardino County Saturday night.

A small vegetation fire that started Sunday afternoon in Clearlake City, 110 miles (117 kilometers) north of San Francisco, was forcing roughly 4,000 people to evacuate and burning structures. Officials said at least 30 homes and commercial buildings were on fire. Firefighters said they were gaining ground against the blaze Sunday afternoon.

More firefighters were expected to arrive in San Bernadino County Sunday. State officials said vegetation is critically dry in the area and temperatures reached more than 100 degrees (39 degrees Celsius) on Saturday, with relative humidity ideal for the fire to spread. The blaze began Thursday evening, and the cause is under investigation.

More than 600 firefighters were battling the fire, supported by water-dropping helicopters that hovered over homes and hillsides, along with other aircraft, according to state firefighters. Cal Fire officials didn’t return calls on Sunday seeking more information about three injured firefighters.

The fire produced coiling clouds of dense smoke, and flames could be seen cresting hillside ridges.

No homes or other structures had been damaged or destroyed.

The National Weather Service said downtown Los Angeles hit a high of 112 degrees Fahrenheit (44 Celsius) Friday, which marked the third time since 1877 that a temperature that high has been reached there.

The Line Fire makes a run along a ridge Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024, near Running Springs, Calif. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)

Smoke from the advancing Line Fire rises above a ridge in Mentone in San Bernardino County, Calif., Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)

Smoke from the advancing Line Fire rises above a ridge in Mentone in San Bernardino County, Calif., Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)

A tree stands, burned after the Line Fire passed through Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024, in Running Springs, Calif. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)

Motorists line up in the outskirts of town as smoke from the Line Fire fills the air Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024, in Running Springs, Calif. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)

Wood posts along a railing on the side of a road smolders after the Line Fire swept through Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024, near Running Springs, Calif. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)

A burned landscape is left behind by the Line Fire, Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024, in Running Springs, Calif. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)

Flames from the Line Fire rise over a hilltop Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024, near Running Springs, Calif. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)

Fire crews monitor the Line Fire, Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024, in Running Springs, Calif. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)

The Line Fire jumps highway 330 as an emergency vehicle is driven past Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024, near Running Springs, Calif. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)

Fire crews monitor the Line Fire, Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024, in Running Springs, Calif. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)

Smoke rises from the Line Fire over the mountains Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024, in Running Springs, Calif. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)

Smoke rises from the Line Fire over the mountains Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024, in Running Springs, Calif. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)

Smoke from the Line Fire fills the air Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024, in Running Springs, Calif. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)

Fire crews monitor the Line Fire Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024, in Highland, Calif. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)

Fire crews monitor the Line Fire Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024, in Highland, Calif. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)

A water dropping helicopter hovers over a neighborhood as crews battle the Line Fire Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024, in Highland, Calif. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)

A cloud of smoke from the Line Fire rises over the mountains Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024, in Running Springs, Calif. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)

Fire crews monitor the Line Fire Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024, in Highland, Calif. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)

Fire crews monitor the Line Fire Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024, in Highland, Calif. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)

Evacuations ordered as wildfire burns in foothills of national forest east of LA

Evacuations ordered as wildfire burns in foothills of national forest east of LA

A helicopter drops water onto the Line Fire Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024, in Highland, Calif. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)