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Police and fire

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Victim of fatal Wells shooting is ID’d

The name of a Wells County teen who died after being shot in the head has been released, and his death has been ruled a homicide.

A ruling of “homicide” means that an individual died as a result of an action performed by another human being.

The Indiana State Police for an earlier story said the shooting appeared to be the result of a gun-cleaning accident.

Eighteen-year old Heath Bumgarner of Uniondale was pronounced dead at 5:15 p.m. Sunday at a Fort Hospital.

He had been cleaning guns with a 19-year-old friend Saturday afternoon at a home just outside Markle.

As the 19-year-old was handling a handgun, it fired a .45-caliber bullet that struck the 18-year-old in the head, police said.

The shooting remains under investigation by the Wells County Prosecutor’s Office, the Indiana State Police and the Allen County Coroner’s Office.

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