No charges in accidental shooting death of USC medical student

No charges will be filed in the accidental shooting death of a University of South Carolina medical student at a northeast Richland apartment last weekend, according to officials.

Muhammad Ahsan Siddiqui, 26, died Saturday from a gunshot wound to the chest, according to Richland County Coroner Gary Watts. His death was ruled an accident.

Siddiqui was in his third year at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine, a university spokesman said Thursday.

Richland County deputies responded to a shooting around 10:30 a.m. Saturday on the 8700 block of Windsor Lake Boulevard, according to an incident report. That address is the Arbors at Windsor Lake Apartments.

Inside the apartment, a man later identified as a relative of Siddiqui’s said he accidentally shot Siddiqui, whom deputies saw on the floor bleeding from the chest, the report states. Siddiqui was taken to a hospital, where he later died.

It was unclear if Siddiqui lived at the apartment, or who owned the firearm.

Investigators decided not to charge the relative because there was no evidence of foul play, according to Sgt. Brittany Jackamonis, a Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman. Jackamonis said the relative was showing the gun to Siddiqui when he fired it.

Siddiqui’s Facebook page says he was from Columbia and graduated from Spring Valley High School and Clemson University.

This is the second time in just over a month that the USC School of Medicine is mourning the death of one of its students. In June, second-year medical student and Irmo native Seth Thomas died after he fell while hiking in Peru.

This story was originally published July 27, 2017 at 2:27 PM with the headline "No charges in accidental shooting death of USC medical student."