Convicted felon sought in fatal shooting of 4-year-old Wash. boy

(CBS/AP) SEDRO-WOOLEY, Wash. - Police in Washington are actively searching for a convicted felon who fled from a home where a 4-year-old boy was fatally shot Sunday morning, CBS affiliate KIRO reports.

Police responded to the home in Sedro-Wooley just after 7 a.m. after reports of an accidental shooting. When officers arrived, they found the toddler with a gunshot wound. He was transported to a hospital and was later pronounced dead.

According to the station, authorities had originally said that the incident appeared to be nothing more than accident. They said they believed the boy had been playing in a room alone when he got a hold of a family member's gun and accidentally shot himself.

The medical examiner's office was reportedly later able to determine that the gunshot wound on the boy was not self-inflicted and the case was then said to be a homicide.

Authorities are now searching for a man identified as 25-year-old Trevor Braymiller, who is reportedly a father figure to the slain boy. He is the boyfriend of the boy's mother, KIRO reports.

Police say Braymiller took off on foot with the weapon following the shooting.

During the search Sunday afternoon, a Washington State Patrol explosives-sniffing dog found the gun believed to have been used in the shooting under the stairs of a church about a half-block from the house where the child was shot.

Lt. Lin Tucker told the Skagit Valley Herald no shell casing was found at the scene of the shooting, but there is one in the gun, indicating a misfire.

Authorities told the station that Braymiller and the home where the boy was shot were known to police. Braymiller was previously arrested as part of a drug ring just over a year ago. During that time, at least one gun, his vehicle and money were confiscated from the home. Braymiller was ordered by a judge to not be in the company of fire arms.

Sedro-Woolley is a town of about 10,000 people about 70 miles north of Seattle in the Cascades foothills.

Anyone with information about the incident is urged to call police.