Final police phone call after student shot dead trying to enter wrong house
Newly revealed audio of two heartbreaking 911 calls detail one 20-year-old’s final night alive before he was shot on entering the wrong house in South Carolina last August.
Nick Anthony Donofrio, a junior at the University of South Carolina, was fatally shot upon mistakenly entering the wrong house in Columbia, where he lived. The home-owners shot Donforio as he broke into their property, which was on the same street as the frat house he lived in.
Authorities have now released audio clips from the woman inside the house Donforio broke into before gunfire sounds as her partner shoots at the 20-year-old. The woman told the 911 operator: “Hi, somebody's trying to break into our house. They're trying to break in the front door. They're banging on it. They just broke the window. My boyfriend just shot through the door.”
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The home-owners shot Donforio as he broke into their property (Louis Donofrio/Facebook)
He was an Exercise Science and Kinesiology student (Louis Donofrio/Facebook)As the woman cries down the phone she describes Donforio breaking the glass panel of her front door, her partner eventually confirmed that Donforio was lying on the porch floor and police arrived five minutes after she initiated the call. Donofrio, an Exercise Science and Kinesiology student had been out drinking with his friend Will Graves. Authorities said he was ‘’highly intoxicated’’ on the Saturday night.
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Graves later noticed his friend hadn’t made it home so made a panicked call to 911, the audio of which has also now been released. During the emergency call, Graves said: “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. 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.”
He had been out drinking (WLTX/Youtube)The woman’s partner from the first phone call, was ultimately protected by South Carolina’s “Stand Your Ground” law meaning no charges were filed against him. Following the death of their son, who they’d help move into his college accommodation just a week earlier, Donforio’s bereaved family members said they were “very proud of Nick” and he was “the son that every parent would wish for.”
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His parents Dina and Louis added: “Nick was funny, smart, compassionate, and loved life. We will miss him immeasurably. He was such a happy kid, always smiling. He loved life, he loved to have fun.” At the time of his passing, he was a Phi Kappa Sigma fraternity member and had been excited about sharing a frat house with four friends during the academic year. His grieving parents told News8: "[Nick was] a great son, loving, compassionate, all the traits you would want in a son."
According to reports at the time, law enforcement received an initial call regarding a possible home burglary at the location. However, before officers could arrive, the situation escalated to shots being fired.
When the police reached the scene, they discovered Donofrio's lifeless body on the residence's porch. Authorities from the City of Columbia police department took over the investigation, and the Richland County Coroner's Office later identified the victim as Nicholas Anthony Donofrio.
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