Wrong door shootings.

[Blue Mountain]

Some interesting details in this fox story about the decision not to prosecute:

Fox61

The video shows the front of the house, with the broken window pane. Interestingly, it is the center panel, not a side or corner panel--seems like a poor choice to break in order to reach a handle.
Also, the end of the video mentions a toxicology report to follow...we shall see!

Is there any indication there will be a coroner's inquest into his death?

 

[newyorkguy]

I think there has already been a Coroner's report. Below is a quote from a statement issued on August 30th by the Columbia South Carolina Police, four days after the shooting:

The Richland County Coroner’s Office (RCCO) identified the male as 20-year-old Nicholas Anthony Donofrio. CPD is awaiting toxicology reports from the RCCO to determine the victim’s type and level of impairment. link to statement

For reasons of protecting the family's privacy the decision may have been made to not release the report publicly. The chief of the Columbia South Carolina Police also stated:

Chief W.H. ‘Skip’ Holbrook says, “This is a heartbreaking case for all involved. Our lead investigator has diligently worked to gather all the facts surrounding this incident. He has also maintained contact with the Donofrio family throughout the investigation. We at the Columbia Police Department extend our deepest condolences for their immeasurable loss.”

The statement by the police also referenced a "review of surveillance video that captures moments before the shooting." I doubt that video will be released to the public and for the same reason.

 

[TurkeysGhost]

Some interesting details in this fox story about the decision not to prosecute:

Fox61

The video shows the front of the house, with the broken window pane. Interestingly, it is the center panel, not a side or corner panel--seems like a poor choice to break in order to reach a handle.
Also, the end of the video mentions a toxicology report to follow...we shall see!

The video was helpful, as it seems the glass that was broken was part of the primary wooden door that had some small inlaid windows, not a secondary glass storm door I was imagining.

If you believe the shooters, the deceased was reaching through the broken window in the door to unlock the only barrier preventing him from entering the home, and it doesn't seem that the residents actively were seeking to confront the man on the patio as was the case in some of the more egregious "wrong door" shootings.

Even in liberal land like Massachusetts this kind of shooting would likely be found acceptable.

The article describes the shooters as a "homeowner". If I were the type of person who keeps a gun in the home for presumably self-defense purposes, I'd also be the kind of person that doesn't have a front door with glass panels. Not particularly coherent threat modeling at work here, but nobody accuses American gun culture of being that smart. A sturdy front door could have made this into a simpler trespass/drunken disorderly case instead of resulting in a body. Oh well.

 

[The Don]

If I were the type of person who keeps a gun in the home for presumably self-defense purposes, I'd also be the kind of person that doesn't have a front door with glass panels. Not particularly coherent threat modeling at work here, but nobody accuses American gun culture of being that smart. A sturdy front door could have made this into a simpler trespass/drunken disorderly case instead of resulting in a body. Oh well.

It's not something that occurred to me until someone on this site pointed it out a few months ago. A $x investment in door technology is much more likely to improve home security than the same investment in firearms - and with much lower associated risks.

 

[stanfr]

Am I overreaching to interpret the statement:

CPD is awaiting toxicology reports from the RCCO to determine the victim’s type and level of impairment.

As an admission that Donofrio was impaired? If it wasn't known, the grammatically correct statement would have been "to determine whether the victim was impaired"

The more I hear, the more I speculate (and yes, it is pure speculation) that cocaine rather than alcohol may have been involved.

 

[Thermal]

Well of course it's you--you added the idea that he had a violent past and that he may have been there intentionally. Completely unsupported by anything.

You're still not hearing me. I bet that he was high as a kite and/or had a history of violent behavior. I'm standing by that. My "support" is the violent behavior demonstrated. It's solid enough to take a bet that it was one or the other.

No...you are missing all of the known details of the case, plus you seem to be missing experience in the real world. 1)It was 2 am 2)It was a known time for many parties 3)He was in a fraternity. As to #3, I was quickly able to find a photo on a social media page that showed the deceased with beer in hand, standing next to his frat brothers....

In order:

1) 2AM is a realistic break in time for many reasons, ranging from love triangle to drugs to staggering around a residential backstreet drunk.

2) please present evidence of these "known" parties in the OP article.

3)he did not live in the frat house. He chose to live miles away from it. Also, you could probably find pics of half the male population in the US with a beer in hand. Did your exhaustive investigation show him staggering drunk and violent, or calmly smiling with a single beer in hand?

Has it occurred to you that this guy was an actual NCAA athlete and Exercise Science Major, with professional aspirations? Are you pretty sure he won't be more health conscious than the average 20 year old, and perhaps that's why he chose to not live in a partying frat house with his frat brothers? NCAA athletes are not all Blutos from Animal House, you know.

No, it's an obvious conclusion, the same one virtually everyone except you has come to oof-the-record. Don't believe me--look at any and every discussion online about this case. The commentators almost universally come to the same conclusion: "He was probably drunk"

*narrator voice* "And here we see The Appeal to Popularity making an appearance on the Skeptics board. It's a bold move, Cotton."

In case you hadn't heard or experienced, being drunk makes you significantly more likely to do stupid things!

So does being coked up. Or angry at getting burned. Or any of another dozen things.

This really is amusing...yeah sure, I bet the campus is just itching to put out an announcement condemning their entire school for being a bunch of drunks.

And now a single incident of one student is specifically condemning the entire school population? Wasn't it you saying that binge drinking is so common as to be the "most likely" reason? Ya wanna pick a side of your mouth to argue from?

You're getting nastier, so I'll say this one last time before bailing: I am only suggesting that the scarcity of facts presented thus far should make skeptics hesitant to jump to conclusions. The story makes no note of blackout drunkenness, so while we can take that as a possibility, it should not be even a tentative conclusion. It's a stereotype, and shouldn't be dignified as anything more than that. Considering his major, residence location, and NCAA status, the blackout drunk hypothesis should be at least questionable.

 

[TurkeysGhost]

It's a stereotype, and shouldn't be dignified as anything more than that. Considering his major, residence location, and NCAA status, the blackout drunk hypothesis should be at least questionable.

I'm not sure I follow you about this "stereotype" thing.

Binge drinking is a common issue for all young people, from the pencil necked nerds to the jocks to the people not even enrolled in college.

This person's behavior is like textbook blackout drunk, I really don't get what you're driving at.

 

[Thermal]

...The video shows the front of the house, with the broken window pane. Interestingly, it is the center panel, not a side or corner panel--seems like a poor choice to break in order to reach a handle...

If he was pounding on the door to be let in, that would be the most likely target area. Maybe broke the pane accidentally, and then realized he could reach the lock?

Also, the initial 911 call said that he had already broken through the door. The later call claimed shots fired. He was found outside, on the porch. Sounds a little like time had passed between the events, yet he didn't enter. Like maybe enough time for conversation?

...The more I hear, the more I speculate (and yes, it is pure speculation) that cocaine rather than alcohol may have been involved.

That's exactly the drug I had in mind when I bet that he may have been "high as a kite".

 

[dirtywick]

Am I overreaching to interpret the statement:

CPD is awaiting toxicology reports from the RCCO to determine the victim’s type and level of impairment.

As an admission that Donofrio was impaired? If it wasn't known, the grammatically correct statement would have been "to determine whether the victim was impaired"

The more I hear, the more I speculate (and yes, it is pure speculation) that cocaine rather than alcohol may have been involved.

yeah well nobody is doing cocaine without having a few drinks

 

[TurkeysGhost]

yeah well nobody is doing cocaine without having a few drinks

Not saying people can't get powder cocaine if they want it, but the usage rates for alcohol must be orders of magnitude higher. Just playing the numbers drunk is almost always a safer bet than coked out. People tend to turn a blind eye for 18-20 year olds doing a bit of underage drinking, but cocaine is still treated pretty seriously as a contraband substance in the US, especially in S. Carolina.

 

[dirtywick]

Not saying people can't get powder cocaine if they want it, but the usage rates for alcohol must be orders of magnitude higher. Just playing the numbers drunk is almost always a safer bet than coked out.

well sure they can get it, and they'll have a few drinks with it. it's a party drug.

 

[newyorkguy]

Am I overreaching to interpret the statement:

CPD is awaiting toxicology reports from the RCCO to determine the victim’s type and level of impairment....

I noticed that too. Sounds as though, possibly based on witness accounts and the surveillance video police obtained, it was considered probable Nicholas Donofrio was impaired.

Also- the initial 911 call did not include that Donofrio had broken the window. At least not right away. The later call claimed shots fired. There was no later call, only one. The glass breaking and then a shot fired -- like the 911 call, only one -- happened while the woman who called Columbia police was still on the line with the police operator. I think this is fairly routine in this type of incident, for 911 operators to "keep them on the line."

As Donofrio was kicking the front door, a woman who lives at the house called 911 while the homeowner went to retrieve a firearm, police said. "While the female was still on the phone with emergency dispatchers, Donofrio broke the front door glass window and reached in to manipulate the doorknob," according to the police statement. "At that time, the male resident fired a single shot through the broken door window striking Donofrio in the upper body." ABC News link

ABC News (and others) also reported Donofrio did live in a frat house:

The University of South Carolina junior apparently tried to enter what he thought was his frat house...Donofrio's parents, Lou and Dina Donofrio of Madison, Connecticut, told ABC affiliate station WTNH in New Haven, Connecticut, their son was a member of the Phi Kappa Sigma fraternity and was studying applied exercise science. The parents said they moved him into an off-campus fraternity house last week, adding their son was excited to live with friends for his junior year.

 

[autumn1971]

It's not something that occurred to me until someone on this site pointed it out a few months ago. A $x investment in door technology is much more likely to improve home security than the same investment in firearms - and with much lower associated risks.

In my experience a plurality of Americans who own guns for “self-defense” actively minimize their defensive attitudes in order to invite an excuse to kill.

But I live in Florida, so only one state.

 

[newyorkguy]

This is somewhat related, based on my previous post. I was up late one weekend night and happened to notice two people entering a driveway opposite our house I was certain they didn't live there. We had just received a request from the local police precinct -- a mass email -- about a rash of car break-ins, mostly late at night, and the request that if we saw anything suspicious to call police. Which I did.

The 911 operator asked me if I would stay on the line -- he said a patrol unit was responding and they were nearby. A moment later I heard background squawking over the phone and an officer say over a radio, "We're coming on that block now." The 911 operator asked me did I see the police. I said yes, they were at the end of the block. I volunteered the information the incident was about a half block from them. The 911 operator said okay, I could hear him speaking to someone -- I presume the radio operator -- and I heard the police officer respond, "Yeah okay we see them. We got it." The police car came up the block fast. Two officers got out -- with flashlights drawn! haha They called to the two suspects and then...I heard them yell, "Hey!" and rush into the driveway.

Long story short. It wasn't an attempted car break-in, it was an intoxicated couple with the male looking for a secluded spot to beat up the female. The arriving police saw the first punch thrown.

The 911 operator actually called me back. He thanked me for alerting the police and explained, "But it wasn't a break-in." We chatted a moment and he said something like the woman owed me a thank you! We both laughed.

 

[stanfr]

You're still not hearing me. I bet that he was high as a kite and/or had a history of violent behavior. I'm standing by that. My "support" is the violent behavior demonstrated. It's solid enough to take a bet that it was one or the other.



In order:

1) 2AM is a realistic break in time for many reasons, ranging from love triangle to drugs to staggering around a residential backstreet drunk.

2) please present evidence of these "known" parties in the OP article.

3)he did not live in the frat house. He chose to live miles away from it. Also, you could probably find pics of half the male population in the US with a beer in hand. Did your exhaustive investigation show him staggering drunk and violent, or calmly smiling with a single beer in hand?

Has it occurred to you that this guy was an actual NCAA athlete and Exercise Science Major, with professional aspirations? Are you pretty sure he won't be more health conscious than the average 20 year old, and perhaps that's why he chose to not live in a partying frat house with his frat brothers? NCAA athletes are not all Blutos from Animal House, you know.



*narrator voice* "And here we see The Appeal to Popularity making an appearance on the Skeptics board. It's a bold move, Cotton."



So does being coked up. Or angry at getting burned. Or any of another dozen things.



And now a single incident of one student is specifically condemning the entire school population? Wasn't it you saying that binge drinking is so common as to be the "most likely" reason? Ya wanna pick a side of your mouth to argue from?

You're getting nastier, so I'll say this one last time before bailing: I am only suggesting that the scarcity of facts presented thus far should make skeptics hesitant to jump to conclusions. The story makes no note of blackout drunkenness, so while we can take that as a possibility, it should not be even a tentative conclusion. It's a stereotype, and shouldn't be dignified as anything more than that. Considering his major, residence location, and NCAA status, the blackout drunk hypothesis should be at least questionable.

I won't beat a dead horse...i don't take issue with the *possibility* he had a violent history. I take issue with the likelihood you assign to various scenarios. The drunken (or high, the two often go together) frat boy mistaking the wrong house and getting upset/frustrated hypothesis is 1,000 times more likely than he was involved in some drug deal with the homeowner, or that he was a psychopath looking for a victim. I didn't present these possibilities--you did!

 

[novaphile]

The misuse of Occam's Razor here is really bugging me, and I considered starting another thread to discuss it, but I'll just wrap it up below.

Occam's Razor, as the adults here know, does not say that the simplest solution is the best/most likely one. That would be stupid. What it says (going back to my Intro to Phil class) is that the one that requires the least amount of assumptions is probably better. There's a major difference there that gets by a lot of people.

For our purposes, the hoofbeats/horses/zebras analogy is valid. Unless you are in the African savannah/a cicrus/the zoo, the chances of coming across a zebra are basically non-existent, making it unresaonable to assume. Let's call that the Zebra Standard.

So in the Tragic Tale of the Dead Frat Boy, we have three main scenarios:

1.as reported, Donofrio simply goes to the wrong door and attempts to break in.
2. Donofrio attempts to illegally break in to a residence down the road from him (removing assumed credibility of police explanation, lacking demonstrated evidence). His reasons could be anything, love triangle, drug deal, whatever, doesn't matter in the slightest. Don't know, don't care, if it was intentional.
3. Donofrio was drunk. That conveniently handwaves away any reasonable person standards, making him essentially the proverbial raging lunatic. But here comes the other assumptions that follow from that:

a). Donofrio, a college basketball player with NBA aspirations, was an underage drug (steriods) abuser
...

If we're making things up, that one sits well with me.

Donofrio comes 'home' to the wrong house, and confronted by a minor problem that can be fixed with a single telephone call, flips out into 'roid rage' and starts trying to smash his way in.

 

[Thermal]

If we're making things up, that one sits well with me.

Donofrio comes 'home' to the wrong house, and confronted by a minor problem that can be fixed with a single telephone call, flips out into 'roid rage' and starts trying to smash his way in.

I vote that he was not playing as well as the other slobbering drunks on his team, so dosed himself with Gamma radiation.

 

[catsmate]

I honestly can't, killing somebody in that way is completely alien to me.

If I lived in USAia I might find it reasonable.

 

[TurkeysGhost]

I honestly can't, killing somebody in that way is completely alien to me.

From the perspective of the residents, it was probably a pretty scary situation. Belligerent stranger banging on the door, breaking the glass, and reaching through to open the door and do who knows what next.

What would people in non gun toting countries do? I suspect it could easily end in serious injury or death. A stranger reaching through the door of a non-gun house could easily find themselves stabbed with a kitchen knife or bludgeoned with a heavy lamp.

 

[JoeMorgue]

"The fact that I'm a gun welding maniac is going to make people more violent to me, I mean that's just logical, so I'm totally justified in shooting first and asking questions never" is a bold stance.