UK police charge 17-year-old with murder following stabbing attack that left 3 girls dead

A 17-year-old male has been charged with the murders of three young girls in a knife attack in Southport, England, and 10 counts of attempted murder, officials said Wednesday night.

Police said the accused, who cannot be named for legal reasons, would face Liverpool Magistrate's Court on Thursday, August 1. He is also charged with possession of a bladed article.

Three children were killed and nine others injured in the stabbing incident on Monday, police said. Two adults were also injured while trying to protect the children, police said.

Bebe King, 6, and 7-year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe were killed in the attack. A third girl, 9-year-old Alice Dasilva Aguiar, died on Tuesday morning in the hospital, police said.

Merseyside police said the children were attending a Taylor Swift-themed event at a dance school at the time.

Officers responded just before noon on Monday to reports of a stabbing at a property in Southport, a seaside town about 20 miles north of Liverpool, according to Merseyside police.

Police had previously said a 17-year-old boy from Banks, a coastal village in Lancashire, just outside Southport, had been arrested on suspicion of murder and attempted murder. The suspect was born in Cardiff, Wales, police said.

-ABC News' Morgan Winsor, Kevin Shalvey and Helena Skinner contributed to this report.