A man in his 60s has been released on bail after an eight-year-old boy was shot in the face while ‘targeting rabbits’ near a farm.
Emergency services raced to the Warcop area of Cumbria at 2.05pm on Saturday after a child had sustained ‘serious and life-threatening injuries’ from a firearm.
The young boy, who was not a local, was taken to hospital by air ambulance, but he sadly passed away overnight.
A man in his 60s, from West Cumbria, was arrested on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter, but Cumbria Police have confirmed that he has now been bailed.
A firearm was recovered from the field, which is close to Wheatsheaf Farm, near Warcop, by officers.
Sources told The Sun that the man, who was also not a local to the area, was shooting rabbits on the field with the landowner’s permission when the tragedy occurred.
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
One police car was parked on a field at around 3pm yesterday after rushing to the scene
Rabbiting is legal on private land in the UK, provided the gun owner has the correct firearms licence and written permission from the landowner.
The hillsides surrounding the farm are grazed by sheep but the area is not used for game bird shoots.
A Ministry of Defence firing range is also adjacent to the field but a spokesman said the incident was not linked to any of their properties.
Councillor Heidi Strong, of Warcop Parish Council, said it was ‘a horrible, horrible tragedy.’
‘People are really shook up about it,’ she said. ‘All I can say is it was definitely an accident but we don’t know the ins and outs of what happened.’
Mrs Strong said she thought the boy was not local to Warcop and speculated that he had been with a shooting party out ‘shooting rabbits.’
The tiny village of Warcop is home to around 500 people, with two churches and a small primary school.
A view of the fields and road which runs through the farm where the boy was shot
One mother in the village said she had received an email from her children’s school, Warcop Church of England Primary School, to say the boy was not a pupil.
‘It’s a very tight knit community,’ she said. ‘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, you really feel for the family. It is terrible news.’
A video posted online showed several emergency vehicles parked at the farm, which lies right next to the busy A66 and a short distance to Warcop village itself, around 3pm.
Local Frank Chalmers, 73, said he saw five police cars and an air ambulance as he drove to his home in nearby Brough.
‘I was just passing by in the car when I saw the police and an air ambulance,’ he said. ‘It is the most awful tragedy for the family and the community.’
Wheatsheaf Farm has not been a working livestock farm since the 1980s and instead tenants rent the land for sheep grazing.
One tenant said it was rumoured that the boy had been attending the Brough Hill travellers’ horse fair, which is held on the last weekend in September.
One young man in the village found out the news from a friend who lives outside the area.
He said: ‘I heard what happened and it’s terrible.
‘This is all word of mouth but apparently it was an accident.
‘The guy has been arrested on gross negligence manslaughter so that’s what we think has happened. 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 but I don’t know the family. It’s a quiet village but people have been quiet about it so far today.’
Emergency services raced to the scene in the Warcop area of Cumbria after being called at 2.50pm yesterday
The village of Warcop, in Cumbria, is pictured today following the boy’s death
In a statement, Cumbria Police said: ‘Emergency services were called at around 2.50pm on Saturday to a farm in the Warcop area following a report that a child had been seriously injured by a firearm at the property.
‘The firearm was secured at the scene by police and an eight-year-old boy was taken to hospital by air ambulance having suffered serious and life-threatening injuries to his head and face.
‘Sadly, the boy died overnight.
‘Officers arrested a man in his 60s at the scene on suspicion of assault GBH. He remains in police custody but is now under arrest on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter.’
