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.”
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.
Its not bizarre. Its called reasonable force
So, defending yourself is only valid once you’re actually in the process of being killed? A bit too late at that point. Someone physically breaking into your home is a valid reason to use force in response.
A bit too late at the imaginary non event in your head?
But the definition of threat is what you described. It is a threat against your life which this was not and its why this is tragic because failing to assess caused an unnecessary death.
So, again, someone physically breaking open your door, who has unknown weapons themselves including a potential gun, should be something you do nothing about? Just let them in and hope they don’t mean to kill you?
that’s what you’re saying not me. Use my words, not yours
No one was actually breaking into their home though. Literally nothing would have happened to that home owner if he had been less trigger-happy and tried to comminucate with the kid.He broke the glass and tried to open the door from the inside. If I were inside that house, I’d certainly feel threatened.
That is completely incorrect and shows you didn’t read the article. The guy physically was breaking the door open.
But he literally broke a window and reached around to open the door from the inside. After trying to kick the door in.
It’s a tragedy, but the homeowner was 100% justified.
The problem is you can’t judge people’s actions on what we know after the fact, you have to look at what the person knew in the moment, and for the residents, it sure seemed like someone was breaking into their house, and it’s not reasonable to expect to have a dialogue with a burglar.