Southport is reeling.

This usual sunny seaside town has been left in shock by a mass stabbing that has claimed the lives of three little girls.

At a vigil outside the Atkinson cultural centre, moments from Southport’s iconic pleasure beach, hundreds of people gathered.

People laid flowers and lit candles, and a minute’s silence was held.

Jane Burns, the mayor of nearby Sefton, told the crowd: “I hope all of you here find some comfort from something, even if it’s someone you meet here today, a stranger.”

Although their doors are closed for the holidays, three local primary schools now have someone missing, permanently, from the register.

Earlier today, Natasha Sandland, head teacher of Marshside Primary School, said their community had been “left numb by this tragic incident”.

She described one of her pupils killed in the attack, six-year-old Bebe King, as “one of our brightest and most wonderful shining stars”.

On the other side of Southport, at Farnborough Road Infant School, head teacher Jennifer Shepton described Elsie Dot Stancombe – a seven-year-old killed in the incident – arriving for her first day atop her father’s shoulders.

“Even at her early age she was such a caring and charismatic young lady who loved to please,” she said.

Jinnie Payne, head teacher of Churchtown Primary School, where nine-year-old Alice Dasilva Aguiar – the third child to die in the attack – was in Year 4, said she was “the happiest of souls, a true ray of sunshine”.

“She was known and loved by everyone… a testament to her unique ability to connect with others,” she said.

At the police cordon this morning, parents brought children, teddies, and homemade tributes. Hands were clutched tightly as they approached to pay their respects.

Leanne Hassan’s daughter attends a nursery just down the road and expressed shock.

“I just can’t believe something like this could happen right where we live,” she said.

“The children were just out enjoying the summer holidays and they never got to go home last night.

“I’m just heartbroken for the parents. I can’t even begin to imagine what they must be going through.”

Many of those visiting the cordon were too upset to speak to the media.

They included a group of three staff from Natterjacks Day Nursery, who carried a heart-shaped message made from children’s handprints.

In the blazing July heat, more than a dozen firefighters from Southport Green Watch – who had helped the children on Hart Street only 24 hours earlier – came to lay flowers. The team had their eyes lowered, some visibly choked with emotion.

Later, the ambulance crews who raced to save them and treat their wounds came to the same place to pay their respects in silence.

But as well as tears, we have observed moments of raw and breathless anger.

When Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer attended the cordon on Tuesday, one woman lambasted him for not being able to help the situation before collapsing into tears.

A few hours after the vigil, events took a darker turn, as a nearby protest turned violent – with projectiles being hurled at police officers and a mosque, and a riot van being set alight.

Local police say some of the crowd were believed to be supporters of the English Defence League, and suggested many may not live in the Merseyside area.

Emily Spurrell, Merseyside’s police commissioner, said the unrest “only causes further harm and suffering” to a community already reeling from tragedy.

Southport residents are already condemning the unrest, instead wishing to stress that this is a heartbroken community marked by kindness and support.

Janet and Graham Golightly, who run The Cupboard, a community donation point established during the Covid pandemic, are providing free flowers to those who wish to lay them but may not be able to afford them.

Graham said the bouquets provide people with something to grip onto “that’s going to hold them together in a situation like this”.

Michael Heybourne runs a taxi firm, MD Travel. He lost his own daughter in 2019 and is now offering free rides to hospital for the families affected by Monday’s attack.

“I know how these parents feel,” he said. “It’s a little bit different – my daughter was ill, these parents have had theirs kids taken from them, and that’s shocking.”

Recalling his own repeated trips to hospital, Mr Heybourne said: “I just thought: if I could just take that pressure away and I could run the people to and from… Each and every driver I spoke to said, ‘Yep, put me down’.”

This morning, he drove a grandmother who was taking her grandson to visit his sister who had been stabbed seven times.

“It was silence in the car for a good 10 minutes and then we just got chatting, as you do,” he said.

Asked how the little boy was, he said: “He was quite happy.

“The little girl was coming round wanting biscuits, wanting ice cream, so he was quite happy with that, you could see it in him.

“But his gran, you could see that she was really worried.”