Two 911 calls have revealed what happened in the moments before and after a college student was fatally shot while trying to enter the wrong house.
Nick Donofrio, 20, died last August when he accidentally went to the wrong house in Columbia and tried to gain access to the property.
Donofrio was a student at the University of South Carolina at the time and was living in a dorm on the same street at the time of the incident.
The Exercise Science and Kinesiology student had been drinking that same evening and authorities say he was “highly intoxicated.”
Now, authorities have released two calls made to 911 that evening, one from a concerned friend from Donofrio, and the other from the homeowner.
Nick Donofrio was shot dead as he tried to enter the wrong house on the street where he lived in the early morning hours.
Police were first dispatched to the home on South Holly Street after receiving a call about a burglary, but while en route a shots fired situation occurred.
In the audio, a woman can be heard telling the operator, “Hi, someone is trying to break into our house.
‘They’re trying to break down the front door. They bang on it. They just broke the window. My friend just shot through the door.”
A loud bang could be heard in the background of the resident’s call as her partner fired a shot.
The woman can be heard crying continuously and tells the operator that the person, later identified as Donofrio, had broken a glass panel on the door.
The officer asked if she could “look outside” and see someone lying on the porch. She replied that the frosted glass of the front door obstructed her view and that the camera on the porch did not provide a good picture.
Her boyfriend eventually confirmed that there was a man on the ground. Police arrived less than five minutes after she called.
Donofrio’s friend Will Graves had been with him that evening and became concerned when he didn’t come home.
The Exercise Science and Kinesiology student had been drinking that same night and authorities say he was ‘highly intoxicated’
In a statement after his death, his parents said they were “very proud of Nick,” who was “the son any parent would want.”
He called 911 and told the operator, “I put a friend of mine in an Uber and we haven’t heard from him in hours.
‘I should have dropped him off at home, but that didn’t work. And I have no idea where he is. And we are all incredibly concerned.
“The Uber driver called me and said he passed out on the porch. And his roommates came to his house and we have no idea where he is.”
An investigation into the incident revealed that the shooter, who legally possessed the firearm, was covered by South Carolina’s “Stand Your Ground” law and that no charges would be filed.
The statute allows people to use deadly force to protect themselves against intruders who enter their home “unlawfully and forcibly” or if they feel they are in danger of harm or serious bodily harm from an attacker.
At the time, Columbia Police Chief Skip Holbrook emphasized that the lead investigator was working “diligently” to gather the facts in this “heartbreaking case” and had been in contact with the Donofrio family.
In a statement after his death, his parents said they were “very proud of Nick,” who was “the son any parent would want.”
“Nick was funny, smart, compassionate and loved life,” his parents Dina and Louis said in the statement. ‘We will miss him immeasurably.’
Dina said their entire family, including his older brother Louie, who also attended the University of South Carolina, were all “devastated” by Donofrio’s death.
The heartbroken mother said Donofrio was “just a happy, happy kid” as a child.
‘He was such a happy child, always smiling. He loved life, he loved to have fun,” Dina said.
When asked what she thought her son would want people to know, Dina said, “I think he wouldn’t want people to be sad. I think he would hate how much pain we are all in.