Deputies: 3-year-old boy was not shot by neighborhood playmate

LAKE STEVENS, Wash. — A 3-year-old boy shot in the face earlier this month likely shot himself, the Snohomish County Sheriff's Office said.

The boy is at Harborview Medical Center after he was injured from a gunshot on Nov. 21 at his home in the 600 block of East Lake Shore Drive. The bullet shattered the boy’s cheekbones and damaged his sinus cavity.

Previously, investigators thought a 4-year-old neighbor may have accidentally shot the boy.

Police said the boy and the neighbor were playing in a locked bedroom inside a Lake Stevens condo when the boy's father heard a loud noise and had to break into the bedroom to get to the children.

Police will likely forward their case to county prosecutors to determine if the father would face any criminal charges for leaving the boys unattended with access to guns.

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