Police arrest Sedro-Woolley man but say he didn't pull trigger on boy

SEDRO-WOOLLEY -- "I'm happy to announce that Mr. Braymiller has been taken into custody,” Sedro Woolley Police Chief Doug Wood said.

It was with a great deal of relief that Wood made the announcement Monday that 25-year-old felon Trevor Braymiller was in custody.

He was arrested in the Big Lake area near Mount Vernon.

"He arranged to surrender himself to law enforcement and detectives have gone to pick him up. So everything was safe, everybody is safe,” Wood said.

Braymiller had been on the run since around 7 a.m. Sunday.

Several 911 calls came in alerting police to a gunshot in the family's home on Township Street.

Four-year-old Dwayne Kerrigan was hit with a single round to the head and died.

Police say the initial indication was the boy found Braymiller’s gun and shot himself.

Then midday Sunday, police called it a homicide, and Monday that changed again.

"The initial medical reports had that it was not a self-inflicted gunshot.  The autopsy has been completed. Although everything is not back, he indicated that it was a self-inflicted gunshot wound that killed the young boy,” Wood said.

Braymiller's close friend Julia Schwartz says she never believed Braymiller could do such a thing.

"Obviously it's a really sad situation, but I've just had the feeling this whole time that it wasn't something intentional and that's the way it's turning out,” Schwartz said.

A manhunt was launched and lasted more than four hours Sunday night after Dick Rude and his family spotted a man who fit Braymiller`s description sitting on the Francis Road Bridge over Nookachamps Creek in Mount Vernon, about five miles outside Sedro-Woolley.

"He was sitting on the side of the railing with his hat down like that looking down at the ground, with like a hat covering his face,” neighbor Jason Rude said.

"The grandkids' mother asked me if I'd seen him, I said yeah... so she came back and said, 'What do you think?' I said, call the sheriff,” neighbor Dick Rude said.

Police and deputies came out with about 10 units and conducted a wide search, using dogs and thermal-imaging, but found nothing.

Now in custody, Braymiller may no longer be facing a homicide charge, but because he was a felon in possession of a firearm, he will likely face some serious criminal charge because of the death of the child.

"It's never smart if you're on probation or a felon period to have a gun but you know it is what it is you can't change the fact that he had it or what happened,” Schwartz said.

Family and friends are planning a candlelight memorial for Dwayne Kerrigan.

It`s being held in front of the family`s home in 1000 block of Township Street in Sedro-Woolley.

It starts at 8 p.m. Friday and the public is invited.