Police: Child Who Said He Broke Arm Defending Friend From Bullies Was Not Assaulted

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OLYMPIA, Wash. (CBS Local) – Police say a 6-year-old boy who claimed he was beaten while defending his friend from bullies was not assaulted.

Olympia Police in Washington state say the child was actually injured in a fall. Details on the circumstances surrounding the fall have not been released.

Police released the following statement Thursday night:

"The Olympia Police Department has been actively investigating a reported assault that allegedly occurred at a West Olympia apartment complex on August 22, 2018. It was reported initially that the child was assaulted by a group of children in the apartment complex. In recent days investigating detectives developed information that the injuries the child sustained might not be the result of an assault. That information was confirmed today. The injuries sustained by the child are the result of a fall, which occurred at the apartment complex on the date in question, not an assault. As a result, there are no suspects of any age. Appropriate social services have been notified to ensure the continued welfare of the child involved."

Carter English's story went viral last week after he was hospitalized with a broken arm and badly injured eye.

The child said he was outside his Olympia apartment complex on Aug. 22 when he confronted a group of children who allegedly picked on his friend.

"They were just bullying him, like beating him up," Carter said, via KCCI. "I just told them to stop… and then they did it to me."

Carter initially claimed a 5-year-old and other children beat him with rocks and sticks and rubbed sawdust into his eyes.

He was hospitalized with a broken arm, a lacerated eye, several cuts and bruises across his head.

"It's been hell," said Dana English, Carter's mother, after the two left a Seattle hospital on Aug. 24. "I haven't slept. I haven't eaten. I can't do anything. I can't even leave his side."

A GoFundMe page was initially set up to help pay for the child's medical expenses, but the page has since been taken down.