No charges for boater who rescued drowning man then shot him dead

Boater, 74, rescues drowning man, 29, and his girlfriend after they fall off Jet-Ski then shoots him dead following feud: Prosecutors say killing was in self-defense and will not press charges

  • Oconee County Sheriff’s Office said the 10th Judicial Circuit ruled that the shooting of Nathan Drew Morgan, 29, by a 74-year-old man was in self-defense 
  • Morgan and his girlfriend had fallen off their Jet Ski into the lake and were in distress, Oconee County sheriff’s officials said earlier 
  • The 74-year-old man and his wife on a pontoon boat drove over to help fish the pair out of the lake
  • The elderly couple told authorities Morgan became agitated once he got on board and started assaulting them
  • The woman who was with Morgan pushed him back into the lake in an attempt to defuse the situation, the sheriff’s office has said
  • The couple on the pontoon helped him aboard again, and the man shot him after a second encounter, saying he feared for his and his wife’s lives 

An elderly South Carolina boater out for a pleasure cruise with his wife rescued a drowning man and his girlfriend after they fell off their Jet-Ski – then shot dead the man in a bizarre only to shoot him dead will not face criminal charges, officials said.  

A statement from the Oconee County Sheriff’s Office said the 10th Judicial Circuit ruled that the Tuesday shooting of 29-year-old Nathan Drew Morgan by an unnamed 74-year-old man was in self-defense.

Morgan, a Walhalla resident, was shot aboard a pontoon boat on Lake Keowee.

Morgan and his girlfriend had fallen off their Jet Ski into the lake and were in distress, Oconee County sheriff’s officials said earlier. The two had no life jackets and the Jet Ski was circling.

The 74-year-old man and his wife on a pontoon boat drove over to help fish the pair out of the lake, the sheriff’s office said. 

The elderly couple told authorities Morgan became agitated once he got on board and started assaulting them.

Investigators were told he may have wanted to get back on the Jet Ski. 

Nathan Drew Morgan, 29, (pictured) was shot and killed by a 74-year-old man who had rescued him from the water after Morgan became agitated and attempted to assault the older man and his wife, authorities said 

The bizarre incident happened on South Carolina’s Lake Keowee

Investigators also believe there may have been an argument between Morgan and the woman he was with before they fell into the water. 

Sheriff Mike Crenshaw told The Journal of Seneca that Morgan may have been intoxicated.

The woman who was with Morgan pushed him back into the lake in an attempt to defuse the situation, the sheriff’s office has said. 

The couple on the pontoon helped him aboard again, and the man shot him after a second encounter, saying he feared for his and his wife’s lives. 

Authorities have declined to name the couple.

Morgan died on the boat from a gunshot wound to the chest, the Oconee County Coroner’s Office said.

According to his obituary, Morgan was a member of Flat Shoals Baptist Church and enjoyed outdoor activities such as being on the water and fishing. 

He is survived by a son. 

After the bizarre shooting, Brandon Thomas, who lives nearby, told local news station WSPA he had never heard of a similar incident in the area. 

‘Certainly have never seen [or heard] anything like that,’ Thomas said. ‘That’s very surprising, especially the area it was in…That’s crazy. Definitely unexpected out here, for sure.’ 

Lake Keowee is a manmade reservoir and it has approximately 18,500 acres of water and a 300-mile shoreline. More than 32 people have drowned in the lake in the past 30 years. 

Morgan, a resident of Walhalla, is survived by his son, according to his obituary 

Lake Keowee is a manmade reservoir and it has approximately 18,500 acres of water and a 300-mile shoreline

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