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Cleveland Heights police are investigating what they say appears to be an accidental shooting early Thursday.

CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, Ohio— A 23-year-old woman is in critical condition after a friend accidentally shot her at close range with a shotgun he thought was unloaded.

Reports say the woman was shot by a 12-guage shotgun after a group of friends went to a South Euclid bar and returned home after midnight on Thursday.

The woman was taken to MetroHealth Medical Center where she remained in critical condition as of 11 a.m. Friday, according to a nursing supervisor.

A 31-year-old Columbus man who the shotgun belonged to and a 22-year-old Cleveland Heights man who told police he pulled the trigger were both arrested on suspicion of felonious assault. Formal charges have not been filed, and the court was closed Friday.

Police said there appears to be no intent to shoot the woman, but they are still investigating. No one answered the door at the home when a reporter knocked on the door on Friday.

Reports say a group of friends met up Wednesday at a home in the 2300 block of Tullamore Road. The 31-year-old man who had driven to the home from Columbus with a 12-gauge shotgun in his trunk didn't want to take the gun to the bar, so he left it inside the home, reports say.

Reports say the Columbus man showed the woman's boyfriend the gun earlier in the day, when it was unloaded. At some point, reports say, the Columbus man loaded the gun.

The group returned to the home and at about 12:20 a.m., the 22-year-old man picked up the shotgun in the living room and was looking at it. Reports say he pointed the gun at the woman and fired a shot less than five feet away from the woman.

The blast struck her in the stomach and chest, and buckshot struck her in the right bicep area, severely damaging the arm, reports say.

Reports say the woman panicked and started running back and forth between rooms until she was forced to lie on the floor.

When officers arrived at the home, they found the woman's boyfriend giving her CPR and applying pressure to the gunshot wound.

The Cleveland Heights man told police he shot the woman but that it was an accident.

Reports say officers collected evidence, including the gun, bloody clothes and a alcohol bottle found on the dining room table.