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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."

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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.

[-] tider06@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago

20 years old is an grown man, not a kid.

Hard to imagine I'd not do the same thing if that happened to my house with my family home.

[-] vinceman@lemmy.blahaj.zone -1 points 1 year ago

Would you have possibly tried, I dunno, yelling first? Seems like if you're already armed there wouldn't be much danger in say "WHAT THE FUCK ARE DOING?". It says nowhere in this story they actually tried stopping him, just that they phoned the cops, window broke, they shot him.

[-] tider06@lemmy.world 13 points 1 year ago

It also doesn't say if they didn't. We have no reason to believe that they didn't yell at him.

But yeah, if someone pounds on my door at 2am, then tries to force the door open, then smashes my window to try and unlock the door, I'm not waiting til they get inside to see if they are peaceful.

Not risking my life or the lives of my wife and kids on wishful thinking. It's a tragedy that the guy lost his life, it really is. But he didn't exactly leave a lot of wiggle room for the homeowners in the house he was invading.

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this post was submitted on 31 Aug 2023
423 points (95.3% liked)

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