Schoolboy, 10, shot dead by friend with airgun

A 10-year-old schoolboy died after being accidentally shot by one of his friends with his father's airgun during a game of cowboys and Indians, it was claimed yesterday.

It is the second fatal incident in the space of just over a month involving one of the weapons, prompting concerns over the law governing the possession of airguns. Rhys Johnson, from Swansea in south Wales, was taken to hospital after the incident on Sunday evening and underwent an emergency operation, but died of his injuries within hours.

A neighbour, Sonia Hixson, 76, said the boys had taken Rhys's father's air pistol out of the garage and took turns to fire it, but it went off and Rhys was shot in the chest.

A 12-year-old boy, believed to be the friend who shot Rhys, was being interviewed by police yesterday. However, officers for South Wales Police said he had not been arrested and that they were treating the incident as a tragic accident.

Neighbours said that Rhys's parents Wendy and David Johnson, were "inconsolable". Their 13-year-old daughter Ashley was not believed to have been present when he was shot.

Rhys is the third child to have died after being shot with an airgun in the UK in just over a year. Last month, five-year-old Jonathan Cooke was accidentally shot and killed by a stray pellet while playing near an improvised firing range while camping.

In August last year, 18-month-old Rashid Ullah died when his five-year-old sister accidentally shot him in the head with an airgun belonging to their father, Bakht Zaman.

As the law stands, anyone under the age of 14 who wants to handle the weapons must be supervised by an adult aged 21 or over.