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.”

  • @ALilOff@lemmy.world
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    171 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.

    • @legion02@lemmy.world
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      41 year ago

      You hear stories about people with dementia doing this all the time. Guess they don’t deserve to live anymore either.

    • Dem-Bo Sain
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      31 year ago

      The ex did once. I came home and had to cover a basement window with plywood.