Eight-year-old boy dies after being shot in head and face on a Cumbria farm

An eight-year-old-boy has died following an suspected firearms incident on a farm, police have confirmed. It is understood the child had been shot in the head and face.

Footage of the scene shows police cars beside a field. Locals described seeing officers and paramedics 'purposefully marching' across the small field, just off the A66, not long after the shooting.

Emergency services were called at around 2.50pm on Saturday (September 28) to a farm in Warcop - in the Eden district of Cumbria - following a report a child had been seriously injured by a firearm at the property. Cumbria Constabulary and the North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust were confirmed to have been in attendance.

A police spokesperson said: “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 has 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.

One resident, who asked not to be named, said: “When I first came across [the scene], 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.”