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The shooting of a stuntman during a mock gunfight...

WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif. -- The shooting of a stuntman during a mock gunfight at a shopping center last week was an accident, the Ventura County Sheriff's office said Friday.

Peter Porteous, 22, Simi Valley, a member of the Southern California Stuntman's Association, was hit by about 30 shotgun pellets in what was supposed to be a mock duel with James Stevens, also of Simi Valley.

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A Sheriff's Department spokesman said no criminal charges would be filed against Stevens.

Both men were taking part in the western-style shootout at West Hills Shopping Center. The pellets were fired from a replica of an 1874 Army .4440 caliber pistol, and struck Porteous and two bystanders, Irene Barnett and Danielle Garaway, 11, both of Thousand Oaks.

Neither was seriously hurt, but Porteous fell to the ground bleeding.

The spokesman said he was hospitalized and has since been discharged from the hospital and was expected to recover fully.

The pistol was supposed to have been loaded with blank cartridges but one of the cartridges had been reloaded with the buckshot and had been accidentally mixed in with the blanks.

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