462
submitted 1 year ago by MicroWave@lemmy.world to c/news@lemmy.world

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."

top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[-] SheeEttin@lemmy.world 299 points 1 year ago

Donofrio repeatedly knocked, banged and kicked on the front door "while manipulating the door handle" while trying to enter the home.

Donofrio broke a glass window on the front door "and reached inside to manipulate the doorknob"

Yeah, that's more than just trying to walk into the wrong house when you're blackout drunk, so I can see why they would consider it justified. But that's the word of the police, so we'll see if a different story comes out later.

[-] AbidanYre@lemmy.world 109 points 1 year ago

We'll only ever hear one side of this story because the other witness is dead.

[-] Xyz@infosec.pub 97 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

No, they have physical evidence, audio evidence which probably means camera or video doorbell and the kid died on the front porch of someone else's house. Seems like the story told itself. The simple explanation is he tried breaking into the wrong house thinking it was his own.

Not saying he deserved to die over his mistake, it's tragic and sad that the situation occurred.

Editing to add this from the article:

"evidence gathered at the scene, review of surveillance video that captures moments before the shooting, audio evidence, and witness statements."

load more comments (2 replies)

Yikes. This is terrifying.

I feel bad for the owner who had to make a split second decision on what to do.

Because not much difference between rowdy drunk kid and a mentally deranged person. And making the wrong choice could mean your whole family is in danger.

load more comments (12 replies)
[-] Laticauda@lemmy.ca 21 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Before you get to the point of destroying your own property, you should have already double checked which unit you're at, whether a family member has a spare key, or whether someone you know can let you stay the night so you can call a locksmith in the morning. It's entirely reasonable for someone inside to think that it's an attempted break-in, so even if the guy just made a really bad choice that ended in tragedy, I don't blame the shooter for thinking it was a robbery, and not wanting to risk the supposed robber having a weapon. It's not an easy choice to make in that situation.

[-] Cleverdawny@lemm.ee 18 points 1 year ago

Ouch. Yep, that's justifiable homicide

load more comments (13 replies)
load more comments (5 replies)
[-] t0lo@lemmy.world 112 points 1 year ago

I love not living in america

load more comments (75 replies)
[-] Tedesche@lemmy.world 106 points 1 year ago

Relevant:

According to previously unreported details that police released about the incident Wednesday, Donofrio repeatedly knocked, banged and kicked on the front door "while manipulating the door handle" while trying to enter the home.

A female resident of the home called 911 as Donofrio kicked the door, while a male resident went to retrieve a firearm elsewhere in the home, the news release states. The homeowner owned the gun legally, “for the purpose of personal and home protection,” according to police.

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.

Under those circumstances, I don't blame the homeowner for using a gun to defend himself and the other female resident. This guy was literally breaking into their home. If it had been me, I would have been terrified and very thankful to have a gun on hand for defense. I'm sure a lot of people here will protest to the shooting, but I would urge them to really think about what they would have done in such a situation. I don't know what Donofrio's reasons were for trying to break into the home, but they hardly matter; the fact is, he did try, and the residents of the home had every reason to think they were in danger. If we had multi-shot stun guns that could reliably incapacitate an intruder, I'd say he should have used that rather than a lethal weapon, but current stun guns aren't that reliable and only fire once before needing to be reloaded. That a life was lost is sad, but I agree that no criminal charges should be filed in this instance. However, I'm not saying that I entirely agree with the Castle doctrine on which this is based, as I'm not intimately familiar with it, but the general notion of being able to use lethal force to defend oneself against a home intruder I do agree with on principle.

[-] visak@lemmy.world 25 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I do not agree with the castle doctrine. It's too easily used to justify lethal force when retreat is an option, however self-defense is a valid justification and from the description given I think that's completely plausible. An unknown person breaking the glass and potentially armed could be a threat. It sucks that a guy who possibly did nothing wrong has to defend himself in an investigation, but we should have a high bar on lethal actions for civilians and cops (the standard should be higher for cops).

[-] paintbucketholder@lemmy.world 27 points 1 year ago

An unknown person breaking the glass and potentially armed could be a threat.

That's a valid statement.

It also demonstrates a wider problem: gun proliferation is so incredibly high that the default assumption is always going to be "that person might have a gun," and this will always prompt a much lowered threshold to use one's own gun in return.

load more comments (10 replies)
[-] Fades@lemmy.world 20 points 1 year ago

I can’t tell, did they announce at all or just fired the moment he broke the window??

Surely this could have been avoided by asking questions first…. What the fuck

[-] Sexy_Legs@lemmy.world 28 points 1 year ago

Idk man, I'm liberal as hell and even I have problems with that line of logic. Man's smashing up their house, putting myself in the invadees shoes I'd be worried about warning the home invader(s) and making them use their weapons.

I'm not saying I think everything is fine and dandy in this situation, mfs are using guns way to much in America. But since the occupants had a gun for self defense AND their home was being broken into, I find it hard to blame them for defending themselves.

load more comments (2 replies)
load more comments (5 replies)
[-] bookmeat@lemm.ee 18 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

The guy at the door was not an immediate threat to life or limb, save his own. Firing a gun was not justified without threat, IMO. But I guess in the USA you can murder people to save your property (not your life).

[-] karlthemailman@sh.itjust.works 27 points 1 year ago

Donofrio broke a glass window on the front door "and reached inside to manipulate the doorknob,"

How much more "immediate" do you need? A complete stranger is trying to break into your home to do god knows what is the epitome of a clear and immediate danger to me.

What would you have done? Opened the door and welcomed them in?

load more comments (3 replies)
load more comments (10 replies)
[-] PrincessLeiasCat@sh.itjust.works 105 points 1 year ago

Oh shit something very similar to this happened to my mom once. She’s an older woman who lives alone and terrified of everything. Yes, she owns a gun.

One night ~ 2-3 am a man knocked on her door and demanded to be let in. She’s terrified, grabs the gun. He moved around to different doors, knocking and banging and yelling to be let in. He started shaking the door handles. My mom called 911 and was hiding in a bathroom. They asked her to just wait, police were on the way.

Finally she goes out, sees the guy at a window, and pointed the gun at him…but the gun has a laser pointer when you squeeze the handle. So she screamed back that the red dot on his chest was about to be where she was going to shoot him.

He ran off. Police show up, say they found the kid - 20 - drunkenly stumbling around the neighborhood. The bar had just closed and he thought he was at his friend’s house. A week later he sent her a $20 gift card to a local restaurant with a note that said “Thank you for not shooting me.”

The cops said if she had shot him, she would have been legally within her rights.

Agree or disagree with any or all of this, I’m sorry for the family of the person who was killed. It’s just a terrible situation all around.

[-] some_guy@lemmy.sdf.org 25 points 1 year ago

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, striking Donofrio in his upper body, police said.

The headline made me instantly rage (as intended). Reading the article made me reconsider. The real answer is to not have guns in the hands of the public. But then only criminals will have guns. Stfu.

load more comments (6 replies)
[-] SwingingTheLamp@midwest.social 77 points 1 year ago

Goddamn, the United States really is a shithole country, isn't it? It's obvious that shooting was the homeowner's first resort, because this was a drunk guy who thought that it was his own house. Any sign that it was not, like lights going on, or yelling, would have at least made him pause in confusion.

But yeah, Americans be like killing somebody before even issuing a threat is totally justified.

[-] nelly_man@lemmy.world 44 points 1 year ago

From the article, it's clear that their first resort was to call the police when he was banging and kicking on the door. The woman was on the phone with the police when he broke the window and attempted to open the door through the broken pane.

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, striking Donofrio in his upper body, police said.

load more comments (1 replies)
[-] GentlemanLoser@ttrpg.network 44 points 1 year ago

Drunk guy who broke the window trying to get in. Maybe it wasn't clear this person was probably harmless and they panicked. Not sure why the people asleep in their home world be expected to flash the lights or whatever you are thinking is a normal middle of the night response to someone breaking into your home.

IDK, I don't like guns for this exact reason. Too easy to end a life out of panic. But the drunk has the bulk of the responsibility here IMO.

[-] crimsdings@lemmy.world 36 points 1 year ago

I am sorry but .. if I am at home with my wife and kids and drunk stranger aggressively bangs and kicks the door, doesn't stop when asked, smashes a window and reaches in to get in - I will probably also have my gun ready if the police doesn't show up fast enough. Some people get super aggressive when drunk - some get confused and silly. There is definitely a difference.

Not American, I live in Europe. No I am not right wing.

load more comments (5 replies)
[-] blazera@kbin.social 68 points 1 year ago

Any other developed country and there wouldnt be a death involved.

[-] holycrapwtfatheism@kbin.social 42 points 1 year ago

Genuinely curious if you had someone smashing your window and trying to enter your house forcefully what your response would be.

[-] Slwh47696@lemmy.world 48 points 1 year ago

Phone the police and tell him to fuck off? Maybe hit their arm with a bat or something. If I was alone I could even just leave. Not immediately execute them.

load more comments (2 replies)
load more comments (30 replies)

Going to call bullshit on that.

The drunk kid smashed a window and kicked the door repeatedly. This wasn't a quiet kid accidentally wandering into a room.

[-] legion02@lemmy.world 44 points 1 year ago

Hard to shoot someone who's made an honest mistake when you don't have a gun...

[-] ALilOff@lemmy.world 26 points 1 year ago

Honest mistake ain’t busting in a window tho. I’ve locked myself out of my own house before and I’ve never went “I’ll just break a window to get in”

I’d be terrified if someone was trying to break into my house at 2am.

load more comments (2 replies)
load more comments (9 replies)
[-] blazera@kbin.social 18 points 1 year ago

This is the US mentality. Yeah, kid was very dumb, kid was in the wrong. Kid should probably be arrested and spend some time in jail to learn his lesson. Nope, death penalty.

[-] TimeMuncher2@kbin.social 22 points 1 year ago

I'm in a developing country and such things don't happen here. Some months back an upstairs neighbour of mine tried to enter into my house when i was inside. He was trying his key and then rang the doorbell and i opened it and he was very confused. Then he looked at my house and realised he was on the wrong floor, said sorry and went away. These things happen if all the apartments look the same. No one needs to die for such small blunders. What's more disturbing is the amount of people here justifying shooting the kid because he broke a window and was forcing his way inside. They don't realise they wouldn't have to fear other people so much if there were no guns available in the first place. I'm sure I'll get a lot of replies that gangsters don't obey rules and what not but isn't that the same in every other country without guns? Maybe Americans like to kill people a lot. No wonder their entire country runs off war and destruction.

load more comments (4 replies)
load more comments (3 replies)
[-] entropicshart@sh.itjust.works 59 points 1 year ago

Good - one less idiot walking the earth.

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.

He wasn’t “trying to enter” he was literally breaking into the home.

I would’ve let off more than one shot at that point.

[-] OutlierBlue@lemmy.ca 18 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Good - one less idiot walking the earth.

A college student gets drunk and makes a mistake, and you gleefully execute him for being an "idiot". He doesn't get a trial by a jury of his peers. He doesn't get to explain his story. A frightened home-owner hopped up on adrenaline and his righteous belief he can blow away anyone who scares him just executes him on the spot. That's a terrible system of justice.

Americans are nuts.

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (3 replies)
[-] Silverseren@kbin.social 42 points 1 year ago

If someone is breaking into your home, you should defend yourself and your family with whatever means is available. The amount of people here saying you should have a polite conversation or comply with the robber's demands (even if that demand is to harm you) is bizarre.

load more comments (12 replies)
[-] LordOfLocksley@lemmy.world 39 points 1 year ago

The American responses are shocking, no wonder they have a mass shooting near enough every day

load more comments (5 replies)
[-] Fredselfish@lemmy.world 31 points 1 year ago

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

[-] Fredselfish@lemmy.world 21 points 1 year ago

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

load more comments (4 replies)
load more comments (1 replies)
[-] entropicshart@sh.itjust.works 24 points 1 year ago

Go read the article before you comment.

[-] starman2112@sh.itjust.works 22 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

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.

[-] FoundTheVegan@kbin.social 19 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

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.

load more comments (14 replies)
[-] rtxn@lemmy.world 22 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

usa_anthem_kazoo_earrape.mp3 playing in the background. This shit is abnormal in the rest of the world.

[-] lolcatnip@reddthat.com 17 points 1 year ago

Well, I guess South Carolina is going on my list of places that are too dangerous to ever visit.

[-] Mobiuthuselah@lemm.ee 21 points 1 year ago

Probably a good idea if you tend to drunkenly break into homes in the middle of the night

load more comments (5 replies)
load more comments
view more: next ›
this post was submitted on 31 Aug 2023
462 points (100.0% liked)

News

22890 readers
3272 users here now

Welcome to the News community!

Rules:

1. Be civil


Attack the argument, not the person. No racism/sexism/bigotry. Good faith argumentation only. This includes accusing another user of being a bot or paid actor. Trolling is uncivil and is grounds for removal and/or a community ban.


2. All posts should contain a source (url) that is as reliable and unbiased as possible and must only contain one link.


Obvious right or left wing sources will be removed at the mods discretion. We have an actively updated blocklist, which you can see here: https://lemmy.world/post/2246130 if you feel like any website is missing, contact the mods. Supporting links can be added in comments or posted seperately but not to the post body.


3. No bots, spam or self-promotion.


Only approved bots, which follow the guidelines for bots set by the instance, are allowed.


4. Post titles should be the same as the article used as source.


Posts which titles don’t match the source won’t be removed, but the autoMod will notify you, and if your title misrepresents the original article, the post will be deleted. If the site changed their headline, the bot might still contact you, just ignore it, we won’t delete your post.


5. Only recent news is allowed.


Posts must be news from the most recent 30 days.


6. All posts must be news articles.


No opinion pieces, Listicles, editorials or celebrity gossip is allowed. All posts will be judged on a case-by-case basis.


7. No duplicate posts.


If a source you used was already posted by someone else, the autoMod will leave a message. Please remove your post if the autoMod is correct. If the post that matches your post is very old, we refer you to rule 5.


8. Misinformation is prohibited.


Misinformation / propaganda is strictly prohibited. Any comment or post containing or linking to misinformation will be removed. If you feel that your post has been removed in error, credible sources must be provided.


9. No link shorteners.


The auto mod will contact you if a link shortener is detected, please delete your post if they are right.


10. Don't copy entire article in your post body


For copyright reasons, you are not allowed to copy an entire article into your post body. This is an instance wide rule, that is strictly enforced in this community.

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS