The local district attorney ruled the shooting of Nicholas Donofrio a justifiable homicide based on South Carolina’s Castle Doctrine, which allows residents to use deadly force if they believe their home or business is under threat.
Authorities have released Ring camera footage and 911 calls capturing the moments after a South Carolina college student was fatally shot by a homeowner after approaching the wrong house.
Nicholas Donofrio, 20, was a junior at the University of South Carolina. Authorities say he was “highly intoxicated” when he showed up at the wrong house on his street and tried to get inside by “knocking, banging and kicking at the front door while manipulating the door handle.”
Police released a 911 call made from inside the house.
“Somebody’s trying to break into our house. They’re trying to break in the front door. They’re banging on it,” the caller said.
A 911 call was also made by Donofrio’s concerned friend, Will Graves, who had been with him earlier that night.
“I put a friend of mine in an Uber and we haven’t heard from him in hours. I was supposed to drop him off at home and he never made it. And I have no idea where he is. And we are all incredibly worried,” Graves said to the 911 operator. “The Uber driver called me and said he passed out on the front porch. And his roommates came out to his house and we have no idea where he is.”
Graves is a former fraternity house president.
“It was very shocking. You never expect that to happen to a kid as good as him,” Graves tells Inside Edition.
The local district attorney ruled the shooting a justifiable homicide based on South Carolina’s Castle Doctrine, which allows residents to use deadly force if they believe their home or business is under threat.
“It’s hard to blame anybody in this situation. I feel like it is best for everybody to take the great memories we all have with him and move forward,” Graves says.
There are 45 states that have some form of the Castle Doctrine and they vary from state to state.
