Boy, 11, shot in head after finding gun in the woods and mistaking it for BB gun

Police cordoned off the area after the incident (Picture: Solent News)

A young boy was shot in the head after finding a gun in the woods and mistaking it for a BB gun – but escaped without serious injuries.

The unnamed boy, 11, remarkably only suffered a graze to the head after he and another boy found the weapon in Southampton, Hampshire, on April 7, police said.

They thought it was a BB gun and took it home, where they fired it once.

Hampshire Constabulary has confirmed that the gun was in fact a pistol that was found in woodland near Wadhurst Gardens.

The police were alerted to the situation just before 5.30 pm that evening, and were taken to the area where the gun was found by the children.

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