Boy, eight, dies after being shot on a farm

by · Mail Online

An eight-year-old boy has tragically died overnight after he was shot on a farm.

Emergency services raced to the scene in the Warcop area of Cumbria after being called at 2.50pm yesterday.

A child had been seriously injured after being shot, sustaining 'serious and life-threatening injuries to his head and face'.

The gun was secured at the scene by police and the young boy was taken to hospital by air ambulance, but he sadly passed away overnight.

Panic erupted among parents in the village when news of the incident emerged, but it is not believed the boy attended the local school. 

Aerial pictures show the steep land opposite the cottage to be completely empty with no police cordon today.

Officers arrested a man in his 60s at the scene on suspicion of assault GBH. 

An eight-year-old boy has tragically died overnight after he was shot on a farm. Photos show crime scene investigators at the scene near a field
An overflowing bath and crumbling wooden sheds are pictured on the land
The farm where the man was arrested following the gunshot
A view of the fields and road which runs through the farm where the boy was shot
Emergency services raced to the scene in the Warcop area of Cumbria after being called at 2.50pm yesterday

Following the boy's death he was re-arrested on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter.

Photos show crime scene investigators and around four police cars at the scene, with one parked on a field.

Fields near to the scene are grazed by sheep and it is not used for game bird shoots -but an MoD firing range is adjacent to the land where the boy was injured.

An MoD spokesperson told The Sun it is not involved. 

Locals described seeing officers and paramedics 'purposefully marching' across the small field, just off the A66, not long after the shooting.

The farmer who owns the land said he witnessed what happened and is 'deeply upset'. 

One resident, who asked not to be named, said: 'When I first came across it, it was about 3pm when I was heading out towards Penrith.

'I saw the medical emergency helicopter in the small field. There's a level field and then a field rising quite steeply up to where the solitary police car was.

'It must have just been called in. I think everything was happening at that time.

'Police had arrived on mass and medics were marching up the field with a purpose.

'I've since been told that the boy has passed away.'

One police car was parked on a field at around 3pm yesterday after rushing to the scene
Farmland in Warcop, Cumbria, where police attended after an eight-year-old boy was shot
The village of Warcop, in Cumbria, is pictured today following the boy's death
An eight-year-old boy has tragically died overnight after he was shot on the farm

The tiny village of Warcop is home to around 500 people, with two churches and a small primary school.

One mother in the village, who wished to remain anonymous, said: 'We don't know fully what happened yet.

'I have heard that he didn't go to the school in Warcop. I read earlier that it was an accidental discharge of the weapon. A lot of us have kids of that age. It's a very tight knit community.

'We all have kids at that school so there was panic this morning that it may have been someone we knew.

'I read an e-mail from our school saying the victim didn't go there so we don't know where they were from. It is quite shocking and you really feel for the family. It is terrible news.'

One young man in the village said: 'I heard what happened and it's terrible.

'One of my friends told me the news and I didn't believe them at first. It's very sad. It's so quiet around here and not a lot goes on.

'I want to send my condolences to them because it is a horrible thing that has happened.

'But even if it is an accident it is horrible because he has to live with that.'

A third man, who was also a parent, said: 'I've had my friends ask me this morning about it.

'It's a sad thing to happen here but I don't know the family. It's a quiet village but people have been quiet about it so far today.'