An investigation was underway last night after a man was shot dead at a clay pigeon shoot.
The victim was taking part in an organised Help for Heroes clay shoot near the lake at Clandon Park House, a huge National Trust property which hit the headlines several years ago when it burned down in a devastating blaze.
The man was understood to have been one of the competitors taking part in the event and was thought to have been loading his gun when it went off, shooting him in the head and causing catastrophic brain injuries.
The victim was taking part in an organised Help for Heroes clay shoot near the lake at Clandon Park House, Surrey
The event was organised by a third party who invited Help for Heroes and recovering soldiers to attend as part of a mentoring programme.
Police and paramedics were called to the lake in the grounds of Clandon Park House in West Clandon, Surrey, at about 11am on Friday morning after the alarm was raised.
They found the man lying on a footpath near his gun and he was certified dead at the scene.
A spokesman for Surey Police said that the death was not being treated as suspicious and an investigation was underway on behalf of the Surrey coroner.
The man’s body was eventually taken to a nearby hospital mortuary for a post mortem to establish the exact cause of his death.
A report was being prepared for the coroner and an inquest was expected to be opened and adjourned in Woking later in the week.
The police spokesman said: ‘We received a report from the South East Coast Ambulance Service at 11.23am on Friday, of a man suffering a gunshot wound following an organised shoot in the Clandon area.
‘The man was pronounced deceased at the scene. Officers attended and an investigation is currently ongoing to establish the circumstances of what happened, although at this stage there is not believed to be any third party involvement or risk to the wider public.’
Rupert Onslow, the 8th Earl of Onslow, who owns the estate, told The Times: ‘Fundamentally it’s a tragedy in the true sense of the word. My heart goes out to his relatives.
‘Help for Heroes does a fantastic job and tries to understand and deal with men that suffer shellshock and it’s such a tragedy.’
Clandon Park House was destroyed in 2015 when a multi-million pound blaze ripped through the 18th Century manion.
The Grade I listed building was entirely gutted as firefighters and volunteers desperately tried to pluck paintings and furniture from the flames.
Just four walls of the stately home near Guildford, Surrey, were left standing after the blaze destroyed all the three floors of the former home of the Onslow family in April 2015. A fault in a tiny fuse in the basement of the home was later identified as the cause of the fire.
A massive three-year restoration programme is still being implemented and the country house is now well on the way to being rebuilt.