UPDATE: 12-year-old’s death ruled a homicide, allegedly shot in head by uncle

MOTLEY, Minn. (Valley News Live) - The death of a 12-year-old boy, who was initially reported to be shot in a hunting accident, has now been ruled a homicide.

Cass County Sheriff Tom Burch said on Sunday, October 9 at 8:19 AM, the Cass County Sheriff’s received a report of a hunting accident in Moose Lake Township in rural Motley. Deputies arrived on scene and, at the time, believed a family from St. Paul was in the area hunting squirrels when a 12-year-old was accidentally shot by his uncle, age 47 of St. Paul.

Deputies and responders initiated first aid and got the boy from a wooded area to a nearby roadway to meet EMS personnel. Life-saving measures were continued and the boy was taken by helicopter to a Children’s Minnesota Hospital in Minneapolis where he died Sunday evening.

After an autopsy, the Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office has ruled the death a homicide. The cause is listed as a ‘gunshot wound to the head.’

Valley News Live will continue to follow this story as the investigation continues.