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

· BBC News
Emergency services were called to the farm in the Warcop areaImage source, Frank Chalmers

Federica Bedendo
BBC News, North East and Cumbria
Luke Jarmyn
BBC News, North East and Cumbria

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

A man aged in his 60s was arrested on suspicion of assault at the scene in Warcop, Cumbria. He remains in custody and was later held on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter, police said.

Cumbria Police said they were called to reports of the boy being injured by a firearm on Saturday at about 14:50 BST.

The child was taken to hospital by air ambulance but he died overnight.

A Cumbria police spokesman said the firearm "was secured at the scene".

They are investigating the circumstances of the boy's death.

A resident of the nearby village of Brough told the PA news agency he was driving by the scene, near the A66 dual carriageway, during Saturday afternoon when he saw medics, police vans and a helicopter.

'Lots of police'

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

"It all looked very serious. They don't usually turn out in that kind of force."

The 73-year-old retiree said the area where the incident happened in the Eden Valley is "very, very rural".

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