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.”

    • @[email protected]
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      410 months ago

      So, you don’t want to kill them with a gun, you’d rather get up close and personal and bludgeon their face until they’re unrecognizable? Baseball bats are a deadly threat too, go attack someone with one and watch how fast you get an AWDW charge.

    • @TopRamenBinLaden
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      10 months ago

      I’d take being shot over being repeatedly bludgeoned with a baseball bat, personally.

    • @[email protected]
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      410 months ago

      I think I heard on the radio that the homeowner was an old man, so I doubt he’d be capable of using a baseball bat against a college athlete. But I can’t find an article that says anything about his age.