Ed Troyer, spokesman for the Pierce County sheriff, said no adults were home when the boy was shot. But three boys, who attend Spanaway Junior High, were present, and several weapons were easily accessible to them, Troyer said.

Two of the boys picked up a .22-caliber, semiautomatic rifle that was lying around and began playing with it. It apparently fired, and a bullet hit the other one in the head, Troyer said.

There was a "considerable" amount of ammunition in the home to which the boys had access, he said.

The shooting puts in stark relief the need for firearm safety and training, Troyer and others said.

"What 14-year-old boy is going to resist playing with" the rifle? he asked.

The dead boy was a ninth-grader. The other two youths attend Spanaway Junior High.

"Whenever something like this happens, it's tragic for the entire community," Bethel School Superintendent Tom Seigel said. "One lesson we can learn from this is the importance of firearm safety at home. We have to do everything possible to keep our guns out of the reach of children."