Update: Father arrested after 4-year-old Mid-Columbia boy shot and killed

A 4-year-old shot in the head Saturday in Othello about 50 miles north of the Tri-Cities has died and his father was arrested.

Felipe Tapia-Perez, 27, was booked into the Adams County Jail on investigation of second-degree manslaughter, possession of a stolen gun and alien in possession of a firearm, Othello police posted on Facebook on Sunday.

Tapia-Perez told investigators on Saturday that he accidentally fired the gun, striking his 4-year-old son in the head.

The family drove the boy to a local hospital and the child was to be flown by air ambulance to a Spokane hospital. It was not clear Sunday if he died before he could be transferred.

Tapia-Perez was cooperating with police, officials said.

And the Washington State Crime Lab helped with the forensic investigation of the shooting on the 300 block of Hamlet Street.

This story was originally published February 27, 2021 at 5:26 PM.