All charges were dropped in the case against Penn senior Bryan Warner yesterday morning, according to both Division of Public Safety officials and court reporter Tom Campbell.
Warner was arrested by Philadelphia police on February 8 and charged with attempted murder.
He was released the following night on $50,000 bail.
The complaintant did not appear in court and the judge dropped the case, DPS officials said.
Yesterday's hearing, which took place at 5500 Pine Street, was the third hearing in the case.
According to Warner's attorney, Richard Harris, since the complaintant failed to show up three times, Charles Erlick, chief of the District Attorney's Municipal Court Unit withdrew prosecution.
"Since [the DA's office] never had any contact with the complaintant, they were unable to prosecute Bryan Warner for the crime with which he was charged," Harris said.
It is unknown if the prosecutors will try to investigate the case further and search for other suspects.
According to Harris, this would only happen if the victim came forward with more information about who shot him, a possibility Harris deemed unlikely.
"My guess is that the complaining witness knows who shot him," Harris said. "When you get shot, the police come. He had to say something. It just so happens that he picked a University of Pennsylvania student."
Police alleged that Warner shot a man in the thigh at a deli at 52nd and Spruce Streets on the afternoon of January 26.
After the victim and another witness identified Warner in a photo lineup, he was arrested.
Warner's photo was in the database because he was charged with assault in 2005 for his involvement in a campus fight. Charges were dropped in that case after it was ruled Warner had acted in self-defense.
The initial hearing for the attempted murder charge was originally scheduled for February 16. It was delayed due to the introduction of new evidence, DPS video surveillance tapes that potentially could have proved Warner was on campus at the time of the shooting.
On April 5, Warning's hearing was again postponed, this time because the prosecution's witnesses were not present to testify.
Friends of Warner -- a member of St. Elmo's fraternity -- said they were shocked to learn of his arrest in February and have long contended that he is innocent.
Harris also predicted the case would be dismissed all along, maintaining that the prosecution's only evidence was a false identification.
