Tuolumne County Sheriff's Office
Columbia, CA – An unidentified man sustained a deadly gunshot to his head while at a Columbia residence this weekend.
On Saturday, December 14th, 2024, just after 11:45 p.m., Tuolumne County Sheriff’s Deputies raced to the area of Columbia Street near Cemetery Lane, off Italian Bar Road, for a report of a man who had shot himself. Once on the scene, they found an unconscious but still breathing 21-year-old man with a gunshot wound to his head. Sheriff’s spokesperson Ashley Boujikian says that the victim is not being identified pending family notification.
Witnesses indicated that the man had accidentally shot himself, according to Boujikian, who added that they recounted the victim saying he had a gun and while showing it to them it went off. The unidentified man then fell to the ground. The shocked witnesses then immediately called 911 and tried to help the man. Deputies quickly seized the loaded handgun.
The victim died from his injuries the next day while being treated at Doctors Medical Center in Modesto.
Written by Tracey Petersen.
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