Window cleaner details moment he came face-to-face with Southport attacker (2024)

Window cleaner Joel Verite was on his lunchbreak when he realised what was happening. (Image: SKY NEWS)

A hero who stopped at the scene of the Southport stabbing rampage to help has spoken out about "locking eyes" with the attacker.

Window cleaner Joel Verite detailed Monday's tragedy which saw three children killed and six critically injured. Two adults believed to be defending the kids are also in critical condition.

Speaking to Sky News, Mr Verite said the horrific moments where he witnessed children and adults covered in blood would " probably stay with me for the rest of my life".

Mr Verite was on his lunch break when he noticed something happening outside the building where a children’s Taylor Swift-themed dance workshop was taking place.

He said: "We were just listening to music in our own world, then my colleague slammed on the brakes and all I can see is a girl hanging from the side of her car.

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Joel Verite on moment he came 'face to face with a knifeman'

"I jumped out the car and I just asked her if she was alright. She just looked in complete shock and had blood all over her body. She just screamed at me: 'He's killing kids over there, he's killing kids over there'."

They realised the woman was injured and she collapsed on the ground. Mr Verite took her phone to speak to the police and ran towards the building. In the car park, he found another woman in a car with “four or five” injured children in the back.

"It was like a scene from a disaster film," he said. "The woman just looked at me and said: 'I just want to make sure these kids are safe'."

He helped with one of the injured children before running towards the building entrance: "I wanted to get her to safety but I didn't know where was safe. I was screaming for an ambulance. I wanted a professional to be there to know what to do."

After leaving the injured child with his colleague, he was approached by someone else who told him the attacker was still inside.

Mr Verite ran inside and up a staircase when he saw the attacker: "I opened the door and there's a stairway. I shouted hello to see if anyone was there. I look up and there's this guy with a knife.

"Maybe he didn't realise I was going to be in there, but we locked eyes and then he scurried off. All I saw was a knife and I thought: 'There are more people in there,' and I just wanted to hurt him so bad.

"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."

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Elsie Dot Stancombe (seven), Bebe King (six), and Alice Dasilva Aguiar (nine). (Image: PA)

Mr Verite says he smashed the door to prevent the suspect from escaping before returning to the car park.

"I came outside and I'm hectic now because I've seen the guy. I'm screaming because I knew where he was," he recalled. "I was screaming 'Where's the police, where's the police?'."

He thinks it was around 10 minutes before any officers arrived, saying it "felt like a lifetime".

According to Mr Verite, the first officer who arrived instructed him to wait for backup before entering the dance studio because he was only armed with a baton. But when another arrived with a taser, they all went back inside, where he says the attacker was apprehended.

He told Sky News: "I'm a new dad and that was one of the hardest things for me - seeing these children in that position. These children weren't crying - they were absolutely terrified - if that makes sense.

"Their parents turn up in absolute hysterics and they scream and cry that they want to go into the building, but they're not allowed to because it's a crime scene.

"They ask me questions wanting to know information. It's heartbreaking. It made me feel disgusted and really upset for all the parents and all the children who had to go through that yesterday.

"I'm not going to label myself a hero. I'm happy that I've done what I've done, and I'm happy that I've at least managed to save at least one life - if not more."