Taylor Alert – Horror unseen footage shows moment police rush towards Southport dance studio while killer is inside as hero bystanders scream ‘you need f***ing gun’ – before teenage knifeman is arrested

Unseen footage of the moment a bystander tells police ‘you need f***ing gun’ as they arrive at the horrifying scene of the Southport stabbings has emerged.

The terrified local can be heard shouting these remarks to officers outside the Hart Space building after Axel Rudakubana had killed three children attending a Taylor Swift-themed dance event in July last year.

CCTV images show the local man running over to the studio with a policeman to find the glass door smashed in after the 18-year-old had entered the premises and killed Elsie Dot Stancombe, 7, Bebe King, 6, and Alice da Silva Aguiar, 9.

As the officer attempts to enter the building, the man pleads with him to stay and can be heard saying: ‘Don’t go [in]. You need a f***ing gun mate. He’s got a f***ing knife.’

When backup arrived, the officers entered the building and found Rudakubana standing at the top of the stairs with the knife in hand, Detective Chief Superintendent Matt Smith said.

Body-worn cameras captured the moment Rudakubana was dragged out of the building by the force after being tasered and arrested.

The killer, wearing a mask and green hoodie, was then held on his feet by officers while they searched him for further weapons at the scene.

The unseen footage was shown as part of a BBC Panorama documentary into the horrific incident, which also featured survivors of the attack recounting how they assisted others escaping the terrifying scenes and how neighbours had rushed to help them.

Body-worn cameras captured the moment Axel Rudakubana was dragged out of the building by the force after being tasered and arrested

CCTV images show the local man running over to the studio with an officer to find the glass door smashed in after the 18-year-old had entered the premises and killed three children 

The murderer pictured in a police mugshot  

Rudakubana was sentenced to life with a minimum term of 52 years in January after admitting the murders.

As well as killing the three children, Rudakubana attempted to murder eight other youngsters, who cannot be named for legal reasons, as well as businessman John Hayes and class instructor Leanne Lucas.

The heroic teacher Ms Lucas spoke publicly for the first time since the massacre during the BBC show and described helping young girls flee to safety and calling 999 as the child killer chased after them.

The yoga instructor had been overseeing a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in July last year when Rudakubana stormed into the studio with a kitchen knife, slashing and stabbing at everyone in his path.

Recalling the moments after the murderer entered the building Ms Lucas told BBC Panorama: ‘I just knew that if I didn’t get out, everyone was going to die.’

A 13-year-old helping to run the class, who the broadcaster is calling Sarah, also told the programme that the knifeman looked ‘possessed’ as he stabbed her.

The pair are the first survivors who escaped the attacker to speak publicly.

Ms Lucas told the broadcaster how she was able to get herself and several children out of the room, despite suffering stab wounds to her spine, head, ribs, lung and shoulder blade.

Ten people were injured and three children were killed in the attack on July 29, 2024. Pictured: The children who died in the attack (left to right) Bebe King, Elsie Dot Stancombe and Alice da Silva Aguiar

Recalling the moments after the murderer entered the building Ms Lucas told BBC Panorama : ‘He was bigger than me. And I just thought: I need to get some help’

‘I just knew that if I didn’t get out, everyone was going to die,’ she said.

‘He was bigger than me. And I just thought: I need to get some help. So we all run towards the door. We were shouting: “Run!” I called 999 on the landing and I asked for the police,’ she added.

Sarah told the BBC of how she managed to fight through serious injury to lead several of the children to safety.

She said: ‘I remember seeing the girls all like huddling around the stairs. So I remember shouting for them to get down and get out.

‘So I was physically pushing them down the stairs to get everyone out.

‘I thought that he wasn’t going to stop until he killed everyone. I thought that he wanted to kill us all.’

After managing to escape the building, Ms Lucas said she urged people on the street to rescue the girls.

‘My brain is going 100 miles an hour but my body won’t do anything,’ she said.

Ms Lucas and Sarah were both shocked by how the authorities had missed warning signs about Rudakubana. Pictured: Axel Rudakubana appearing via videolink during a preparatory hearing at Liverpool Crown Court

The child killer is seen here in CCTv footage wearing a green hoodie on the day of he carried out the sickening murders

A replica of the knife used by Rudakubana in the frenzied attack that killed three little girls and injured eight other children and two adults

‘And there are people asking me questions and I am saying: ‘Go and get the children.’

‘I just don’t know what else I could have done.’

At Rudakubana’s sentence hearing the court heard how the killer had taken a taxi from his family home in Banks, five miles from Southport.

He did not speak during the journey and left without paying, prompting the driver to follow him asking for payment.

Prosecutor Deanna Heer KC said Colin Parry, the owner of a neighbouring garage, told Rudakubana he needed to pay ‘but the defendant’s response was “what are you going to do about it?”.’

Rudakubana went up the stairs within the Hart Space building.

Ms Heer went on: ‘Within 30 seconds, screaming could be heard coming from within, followed very shortly afterwards by children fleeing the building.’

The prosecutor gave details of a statement from Ms Lucas saying she had seen Rudakubana outside in a green hoodie and mask as she opened a window due to it being a hot day.

Ms Lucas then described how he walked into the upstairs room where the dance class was happening.

One of the children carried out of the building by Marcin’s colleague Joel was Bebe King (pictured), six, who tragically died of her injuries

Alice da Silva Aguiar (pictured), nine, died in hospital of her injuries a day after the rampage

Elsie Dot Stancombe (pictured), seven, was found dead in the studio after suffering severe injuries

Ms Heer said: ‘Without saying a word, he grabbed the child nearest to him from behind and put his arm around her. She (had been) at a table making a bracelet.

‘Then he moved to a second child, then a third. He moved quickly through the room without saying anything.

‘It was only when she (Ms Lucas) reached her and she felt the knife that she realised he was armed and stabbing the children.’

She recalls seeing a flash of the defendant’s green top as he chased her. She was frightened they wouldn’t be able to get out quickly enough. She told (the children): ‘Run away, run away’.

The court then heard evidence from John Hayes, a businessman based in neighbouring premises within the Hart Space building.

He heard screaming and went out of his office to be confronted by Rudakubana on the landing, holding a knife while standing over the body of one of the girls, Bebe King, six.

Ms Heer said Mr Hayes ‘backed away’ followed by Rudakubana.

She added: ‘He followed him into his office. The defendant swiped at him. Mr Hayes tried to grab the knife and the defendant stabbed him in the leg’.

Knifeman Rudakubana, dressed in a green hooded sweatshirt with the hood up and surgical mask on, had armed himself with a kitchen knife with a 20cm blade before he took a cab to Hart Street, arriving just before 11.45am. Rudakubana is pictured above as he waited for the cab

Heartbreaking floral tributes and teddy bears were left at the scene of the attack 

Police are pictured above investigating the scene on Hart Street in Southport on July 29, 2024

Mr Hayes then collapsed.

Outside, window cleaners Marcin Tyjon and Joel Verite ‘saw children running and a woman covered in blood’.

Mr Verite picked up Alice da Silva Aguiar and took her to Mr Tyjon, who tried to revive her before emergency services could arrive.

Mr Verite went inside Hart Space to try to rescue children but ‘retreated when he saw the defendant holding a large knife’.

The court heard that ‘a number of people dialled 999’ and the first police to attend, at 11.57am, were Sergeant Gregory Gillespie and Sergeant Luke Holden, who was armed with a taser.

Ms Heer said: ‘At the top of the stairs, they saw the defendant. He was standing over the body of Bebe King, who had visible stab injuries, and was holding a large bladed knife.’

Rudakubana was told to drop the knife ‘and he did so’, Ms Heer added.

The officers moved into the room where the dance class was being held and found the body of Elsie Dot Stancombe on the floor.

The court was shown a series of CCTV footage showing the defendant arriving and children fleeing.

In one clip, an eight year-old girl who survived, could be seen being pulled back inside by Rudakubana.

A further clip showed police finding one child and other dance teacher Heidi Liddle crying in the toilet.

The police officer tells Ms Liddle: ‘Listen, listen, listen, you’re safe.’