A 6-year-old playing with a gun fired the shot that struck and killed another young boy on a New Holland-area farm Saturday afternoon, police said.

"The fatal wound was not self-inflicted," Chief John V. Yost of the New Holland Police Department said in a prepared statement Sunday.

The police declined to identify either child or say whether they were related, but it is believed the two were cousins.

The father of the victim, Allen G. Hoover, confirmed a previous report that it was his son, Andrew, who had been shot and killed. The boy was 5 years old.

Hoover declined to comment further, saying police instructed him not to speak about the incident.

Paul Reiff, the deceased boy's grandfather, described Andrew as a "lively kid. He liked to try everything. He was always into everything, and he had a lot of help. His cousins lived right across the backyard from him."

The boys particularly enjoyed playing baseball. "Andrew had to be doing something," his grandfather said. "He was always going. He couldn't sit around."

Reiff said he was told the boy who was playing with the weapon was a cousin of Andrew's.

Yost said in his statement that police are still investigating the shooting, which occurred at 4:36 p.m. Saturday.

The police initially reported that the child who had been shot and killed was 6, but corrected the information late Sunday morning.

The police said the shooting occurred at 140 Fairmount Road in Earl Township, a rural area about 3 miles northwest of New Holland Borough and a mile southwest of Route 322 and the village of Hinkletown.

The family lives in a ranch-style home nearby, at 144 Fairmount Road.

New Holland Detective Jonathan Heisse is leading the investigation with the assistance of the Lancaster County District Attorney's Office and the Lancaster County Coroner's Office.

The coroner, Dr. Stephen Diamantoni, said an autopsy will be performed Tuesday morning.

E-mail: tmurse@lnpnews.com