3-year-old boy shot in mouth while playing with 4-year-old neighbor

LAKE STEVENS, Wash. — A shooting in the 600 block of East Lakeshore Drive in Lake Stevens just before 10:00 Friday night has left a 3-year-old boy fighting for his life.

Neighbor Buzz McLeod said he arrived home after the shooting. Soon after that, medics showed up.

"The owner of that unit was watching the grandson and his son, while his wife and the lady were out," said McLeod, who lives below the units.

The condo is owned by 46-year-old Jon Holzwarth. An internet search revealed he is in the internet security and firearms businesses.

According to Snohomish County deputies, the shooting happened in a bedroom that was locked.

Holzwarth told them he heard a loud boom and ran to the bedroom where his son, Michael, and his neighbor's 4-year-old grandson were playing.

He forced the locked door open and initially thought his son had gotten hurt that way.

At Providence Everett Medical Center, doctors discovered the boy had been shot in the mouth.

He was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.

No one answered at Holzwarth's door where a sign reads: "We don't dial 9-1-1" with a metal cutout of a pistol dangling below.

There were also emblems about guns on his Jeep.

On Saturday, his son was struggling to survive from a gunshot wound -- a tragic irony not lost on his neighbor.

"I don't agree with the guns," said McLeod. "You kind of get a little concerned when someone even has a gun."

McLeod was worried about Michael. "He's a cute boy," he said.

Snohomish County Sheriff’s deputies have said nothing about the make or model of the gun nor who owns it.

They are calling the shooting accidental but say they are still investigating.

They have not said if the gun's owner will face any charges.

KIRO