Boy, 8, who died after being shot on Cumbrian farm identified

Cumbrian police have identified an eight-year-old boy who died after being shot in the head on a farm.

They have said that the boy, who was shot on Wheatsheaf Farm before being rushed to hospital and dying there, was named Jay Cartmell.

According to Cumbrian police, emergency services attended the farm over reports that a child had been seriously injured by a firearm at 2:50pm on 28 September.

The eight-year-old child was said to have had 'life threatening injuries' after being shot at a farm, before confirming in a further statement that the boy had died overnight in hospital.

A man in his 60s has been arrested in connection with assault and was held on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter before later being bailed, with police saying in a statement that he'd been 'bailed whilst police continue with their investigations'.

A police investigation remains ongoing, and officers have urged anyone who might have been a witness to the shooting or the events preceding it to come forward and speak to them.

Police have identified the eight-year-old boy as Jay Cartmell. (Getty Stock Image)

They said: "Jay died after sustaining serious head injuries in an incident on land not far from the A66, north of Warcop.

"As officers continue with their enquiries into this incident, they are encouraging anyone who may have witnessed the incident or the moments leading up to it to come forward."

Jay had been taken to hospital via air ambulance, while police recovered a firearm from the scene.

A local man told PA News that the area was 'very, very rural' and when he saw the emergency services arrive in number he thought it must have been very serious.

73-year-old Frank Chalmers said: "I passed the farm at around about 3pm and 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.

Police and an air ambulance arrived on the scene, but the child sadly died overnight in hospital. (PA News)

"It all looked very serious. I think with that level of police presence it’s usually a dreadful incident like a death.

"They don’t usually turn out in that kind of force."

The Metro reported that another neighbour who declined to be identified also said they saw the helicopter and police car at about 3pm on the day.

They said they saw 'a field rising quite steeply up to where the solitary police car was' and that 'it must have just been called in' as they could see 'police had arrived en masse and medics were marching up the field with a purpose'.