First picture of boy, 8, shot and killed on farm in Cumbria
Tributes have poured in for eight-year-old Jay Cartmell after he was shot dead at a farm in Cumbria over the weekend.
Cartmell died on Saturday when police were called to Wheatsheaf Farm, near Warcop in Cumbria, following reports a child had been ‘seriously injured by a firearm at the property’.
The boy later passed away in hospital following severe injuries to the head and face, and a man in his 60s has been arrested in connection with the incident before being released on bail.
Football clubs across Cumbria have since paid tribute to Jay, who was a youth player for Whitehaven Miners FC.
Posting on social media, the club said: ‘RIP wee man #oneofour #lanternforlife. Our thoughts are with your family, coaches and team mates.’
Whitehaven AFC also paid tribute in a statement which read: ‘Our heartfelt condolences to this little lad’s family, our neighbours, Whitehaven Miners Social Football Club, his friends, team mates and all that knew him.
‘Truly devastating news, any support we can offer please let us know.’
Nicola Stephenson, secretary for Bransty Rangers JFC, added: ‘On behalf of everyone at Bransty Rangers JFC we send our sincere condolences to all at Whitehaven Miners and Jay’s family and friends.’
Josh MacAlister, MP for Whitehaven and Workington, said: ‘This is an absolutely tragic and heart-breaking loss of such a young life. I know that our whole community will have Jay’s family in our thoughts.’
The village of Warcop is home to around 500 people, with two churches and a small primary school.
It is speculated the boy was not from the local area, and instead had joined a shooting party to hunt rabbits, which is legal in the area.
Councillor Heidi Strong from Warcop Parish Council said it was ‘a horrible, horrible tragedy’, adding: ‘People are really shook up about it.
‘All I can say is it was definitely an accident but we don’t know the ins and outs of what happened.’
Cumbria Police 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.’
A source told The Sun: ‘They had permission to be on the land. There’s been an agreement in place for years for them to rabbit there.’
Footage appears to show detectives scouring a nearby field after an investigation was launched.
Locals said they spotted officers and paramedics ‘purposefully marching’ across a small field off the A66 just moments after the shooting.
Frank Chalmers, 73, said he saw a handful of police cars and an air ambulance at the farm at about 3pm as he was driving past to his house in Brough.
He told the Sun: ‘I was just passing by in the car when I saw the police and an air ambulance.
‘It is the most awful tragedy for the family and the community.’
Two other eyewitnesses reported seeing crime scene investigators in white suits and stick markers about an hour after the emergency services were alerted.
Another resident, who asked not to be named, described first coming across the incident at about 3pm when heading out towards Penrith.
They said: ‘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.
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