Boy, 8, dies after being shot in the head at Warcop farm

An eight-year-old boy has died after being shot in the head and face on a farm.

A man in his 60s who was held on suspicion of manslaughter by gross negligence has been released on bail.

Cumbria Police said they were called to reports that the boy had been injured by a firearm in Warcop at around 2.50pm BST on Saturday.

The child was taken to hospital by air ambulance, but died during the night.

A Cumbria Police spokesperson said the firearm was “secured at the scene”.

Officers continue to investigate the circumstances and have encouraged anyone who may have witnessed the incident or the moments leading up to it to come forward.

A resident of the nearby village of Brough told the PA news agency that he was driving past the crash site, near the A66 dual carriageway, on Saturday afternoon when he saw doctors, police vans and a helicopter.

Frank Chalmers said: “I passed the farm about 3pm. I saw the helicopter with the rotors stopped, and medics marching up the hill, lots of police, maybe five police vans. One car was parked in the middle of an empty field. field.

‘It all looked very serious. Usually they don’t show up with that kind of force.’

The 73-year-old pensioner said the area where the incident took place in the Eden Valley is “very, very rural”.

David Wood, who lives in the Brookside area of ​​Warcop, said it was “so sad and shocking” and “a real tragedy”.

He said: ‘I’m shocked but it’s hard to describe. A life that ended far too soon.

“We don’t know the family, but the realization that a little boy’s life is over will undoubtedly have an impact on people.”

An elderly woman told the BBC it was “absolutely terrible what happened”.

A man who lives nearby added: ‘As a grandfather you think that the world of your grandchildren doesn’t interest you, and that you can’t replace them. So it’s just terrible for the family.

“I don’t know who it is, but their whole family will be devastated.”