An eight-year-old girl in the UK is reportedly fighting for her life after apparently being shot in the head by her father, who then turned the gun on himself.
The man is believed to be the girl’s father, his body has been found following the shooting in Spring Hill, in Northiam, near Rye, East Sussex.
A spokesman for Sussex Police has said that they are not treating the death as suspicious. The young girl who has not been named was taken to King’s College Hospital with what police have described as “life-threatening” injuries.
Chief Superintendent Neil Honnor said in a statement that: “We are treating this as a tragic domestic incident and do not believe that anyone else is involved. “At this stage we are not in a position to confirm the relationships of all those involved but we can say that the girl and the man knew each other. The man does not live at the address. “We are treating this as an isolated incident and there is no evidence that any other members of the public are at risk.”
Sussex police had released an earlier statement in which they said there was “no suggestion that the public are in danger” and that they were not looking for anyone else. It is believed that Armed officers from the force were sent to the scene after the shooting, with numerous police cars surrounding the an area cordoned off to the public.
A local Villager Anthony Burr, 37, who lives near the scene of the shooting, told British satellite channel Sky News reporters: “I was in the living room and heard the sound of a firearm,” “The sound of police sirens followed some minutes later.”
He went onto say a neighbour had told him the girl had been shot in the head. “Obviously there was panic across Northiam, we all went into lockdown, shut doors, got the children in,” he said “What transpired is what we feared, which is that a young girl, who was eight years old, was shot in the head.”