ATLANTA -- Police near Atlanta are investigating after a 3-year-old boy was shot and killed late Sunday night, reports CBS Atlanta affiliate WGCL-TV. The child's mother said a grey Dodge Charger pulled up to her vehicle at a stop light just before midnight, and the driver showed what she thought was a paintball gun.

She told police she heard a pop, but drove on.

"She heard a real gunshot. She didn't think anything of it," DeKalb County Police Chief James Conroy told the station.

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The suspect fled the scene, and the mother drove on, then noticed her child wasn't breathing. The boy was transported to a hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.

Police continue to investigate and search for a suspect.