A former Salford Red Devils player has been hailed as a ‘hero’ as he reportedly jumped on the killer in the Southport stabbings.
Colleagues of Joel Verite, 25, said the former rugby player bravely jumped on the killer with police officers before carrying stabbed young girls away from the scene.
Yesterday (July 29) three children were killed in a stabbing during a dance class in Southport. Ten people have been injured and a 17-year-old male suspect has been arrested by the police.
The three young girls killed in the tragic knife attack have been named as six-year-old Bebe King, seven-year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe and nine-year-old Alice Dasilva Aguiar.
Kyle Shaw, 20, who works at Level Up Gym in Southport with Joel, said: “I think that he’s truly displayed how much of a fantastic person he truly is. He’s been a true hero and shown nothing but fearlessness. In that second he’s just reacted in the best way we could of hoped for.
“I sent him a message to say I hope he was ok, he said on Instagram he was a little bit overwhelmed. He said it was a traumatic experience. He was one of the first on the scene.
“He went in with the police and helped to detain the man and then helped to carry a child out. I don’t even have words for it, what a hero to pick the kids up and carry them out. He took himself to a different place and did what he had to do.”
The Chief Constable of Merseyside Police released a statement yesterday following the horrific attack.
Chief Constable Serena Kennedy said: “It is understood that the children were attending a Taylor Swift event at a dance school when the offender, who was armed with a knife, walked into the premises and started to attack those inside.
“We believe that the adults who were injured were trying to protect the children at the time they were attacked.
“As a mum of two daughters, and the nanna of a five-year-old granddaughter, I cannot begin to imagine the pain and suffering the families of the victims are currently going through and I want to send them our heartfelt condolences and sympathies.”
Salford Red Devils have been contacted for comment.
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