Fatal shooting of University of South Carolina student who tried to enter wrong home 'justifiable,' police say
Fatal shooting of University of South Carolina student who tried to enter wrong home 'justifiable,' police say
The homeowner who fatally shot 20-year-old Nicholas Donofrio will not face charges due to the state's "castle doctrine" law, Columbia Police announced Wednesday.
The homeowner who fatally shot a 20-year-old University of South Carolina student who tried to enter the wrong home on the street he lived on Saturday morning will not face charges because the incident was deemed "a justifiable homicide" under state law, Columbia police announced Wednesday.
Police said the identity of the homeowner who fired the gunshot that killed Nicholas Donofrio shortly before 2 a.m. Saturday will not be released because the police department and the Fifth Circuit Solicitor’s Office determined his actions were justified under the state's controversial "castle doctrine" law, which holds that people can act in self-defense towards "intruders and attackers without fear of prosecution or civil action for acting in defense of themselves and others."
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Kid accidentally enter wrong home this was Not Justified. Mother fuckers the law needs to be repealed and done over then.
Shooting someone just for entering or knocking on your door isn't an excuse to shoot to kill someone. Should at least give person a warning.
I hope that homeowner never finds peace again and better be glad it wasn't my kid.
He didn't just accidentally enter the wrong home, he was forcibly breaking into the home when he was shot. Even breaking a window to open the door from the inside.
Tragic as he was likely just intoxicated and confused, but understandable that the homeowner would use force to defend himself
While the woman was on the phone with police, Donofrio broke a glass window on the front door "and reached inside to manipulate the doorknob," at which point the male resident fired the shot through the broken window that struck Donofrio in his upper body, according to police
Glad breaking and entering is now considered worth a death sentence.
This wasn't a punishment or sentence.
He was literally breaking through the door to enter the house.
What was the home owner supposed to do? Hope he became non-violent once he got in? Challenge him to a game of chess? Declare a set of non-lethal rules and duke it out?
The homeowner has a right to not be attacked in his own home ffs
Idk. Maybe yell, “Hey. Fuck off” and call the police? If it is a drunk person, they probably embarrassingly realize it’s the wrong house. Or if they keep trying to get in after, then shoot?
Also the home owner wasn’t attacked. His window was.
You may want to read the article - they did call the police. Unfortunately it takes less time for someone to violently smash through a door than for the cops to arrive.
Interesting that you summize that they were apparently silent as this guy smashed their door
And, would you really play the odds that someone violently entering your house would suddenly have a moment of clarity when they entered? He was messed up enough to think shattering his own window was a viable option to get into his house.
But they never tried yelling at him, did they? Even after he had a firearm, the article says nothing about calling out with a warning first or anything. That seems insane to me.
It also doesn't say they didn't. Are we going to just list off a bunch of things the article doesn't say?
Keep moving the goalposts!
You have to judge it from the perspective if the person living there. They hear someone banging on their door, trying to get into the house, breaking the window and forcing their way in. They had absolutely no reason to believe this was a simple misunderstanding, and every reason to believe their life was in danger.
Go read the article before you comment.
This wasn't a kid knocking at the wrong door in the middile of the day.
This was a 2 AM and break in where the guy busted a window to get at the door handle. This is WAY MORE than just knocking or a misunderstanding. I would agree that mistakes or even simple burglary don't deserve the death penalty, BUT... if he was aggressive enough to be smashing things in the middle of the night after banging on the door and windows, then what would he also be aggressive and mistaken about when he got inside? At a certain point being concerned for your own safety is legitmate and we crossed that line awhile ago.
He mightve thought he was trying to enter his house. However breaking a window and reaching for the lock is a good way to get either shot or arrested for b&o even if he is drunk as a skunk.
Hey doofus did you even read the article? He was breaking into the home. Maybe read the fucking article before spouting bullshit, next time.
Bro banged on the door and broke a window to try to get in. He was literally forcefully entering a locked house, he didn’t just wander into an unlocked door by mistake.
No telling what the kid was trying to do or would have done if he got in. Home owners have to assume the person trying to kick in the door and breaking a window is there to do harm. Justified self defense to anyone with two brain cells to rub together.
By all accounts he thought he was entering his own home, thought he was breaking his own windows, etc. Seems to me like a little more dialog and this kid's still alive and a broken window is the worst part of the event. With castle doctrine laws the way they are mistakes and misunderstandings are much more likely to become fatal.
Not being allowed to defend yourself until the intruder finishes breaking in to your home and attacks you simply means self-defense isn't allowed, because at that point you're probably already dead.
The homeowners were awake, and calling the cops. Sounds like the kid was drunk to the point he wasn't engaging in conversation.
Not by all accounts. Specifically not by the accounts of the people who were inside the home that was getting broken into at 2am.
In none of the accounts do they mention trying to speak with him before shooting. Just call 911 and wait with gun pointed towards door.
Which is what they did, until the intruder broke into the home through the window.
You have a source on that? I've yet to see a reference to them attempting to communicate with anyone but 911.
As many sources that you have that say they didn't.
I can't find anything saying the couple wasn't high on meth so I guess it's safe to assume they were.
Yeah, that's basically what you're doing.
Have you ever tried to reason with someone drunk enough to not recognize their own house? "A little more dialogue" would have gone in one ear and right out the other. Here's my hot take of the day: the biggest mistake made that night was someone getting blackout drunk.