SPANAWAY, Wash. -- Pierce County sheriff's deputies are investigating the shooting death of a 17-year-old at a home in Spanaway early Thursday.

Sheriff spokesman Ed Troyer said deputies were called to the house about 2 a.m. When they arrived they found the teenager dead inside a trailer in the backyard.

Troyer said the boy's father shot him, but investigators were still working to determine whether the shooting was accidental or intentional.

"The gun went off when the dad had control of it," he said. The teen was shot from about 4 feet away with a .40-caliber handgun.

Troyer says the father, identified as 41-year-old James Everett Danforth, Jr., cooperated with police and was taken into custody. He was booked into the Pierce County Jail for investigation of manslaughter.

Deputies have cordoned off the home in the 22900 block of 41st Avenue Court East and are searching the area for evidence.

The Pierce County medical examiner's office identified the dead youth as Nicholas Danforth.

Friends who gathered outside the home said he had recently dropped out of Bethel High School and had expressed interest in joining the Army.

Grief counselors were at the school to meet with students and staff, Bethel School District spokesman Mark Wenzel said.