A family member drove the boy to a hospital in the District, and he was transferred to Children’s National Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead, police said.

An autopsy is pending, and Prince George’s detectives are investigating the events leading up to the incident, police said.

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“This is a tragic situation,” Prince George’s Police Chief Hank Stawinski said in a statement. “We are going to get to the bottom of what happened and how it happened.”

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Police said the 8-year-old and teen were family friends.

The child was in the care of an adult family member at the time of the incident, police spokeswoman Christina Cotterman said.

The county has long tried to stop the use of off-road vehicles on county streets, a practice that police said is illegal and dangerous to riders and others nearby.

“As we conduct this investigation,” Stawinski said, “we continue to urge all those who ride ATVs to please do so only in a safe and legal manner so we can prevent these types of heartbreaking outcomes in the future.”

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Police in the District have also been urging safe ATV driving. This week, D.C. police released almost 400 images of a group of ATV and dirt bike riders illegally riding in Southeast Washington on Aug. 25. Police are offering a $250 reward for tips leading to an arrest of any of the riders, saying ATVs and dirt bikes “pose a danger to pedestrians and other motorists and are illegal to operate on D.C.’s streets.”

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