CHEWELAH, Wash. (AP) - The death of an Eastern Washington boy who bled to death after he was shot with an arrow has been ruled accidental.

The Stevens County coroner says the arrow struck 12-year-old Alex Niskanen in the left shoulder and severed his axillary artery.

Niskanen, a Deer Park Middle School student, was visiting friends south of Chewelah on Thursday when the accident occurred.

The sheriffs office has not identified the boy who released the arrow. Coroner Patti Hancock says only that he was older than the victim, and that they were playing at the time.

Deer Park schools are among 30 schools statewide that participate in the National Archery in the Schools Program, but it was not immediatly known whether Niskanen participated in the program.