A would-be rescuer who shot and killed a man pulled from a South Carolina lake last week will not face charges.
The 74-year-old man had shot Nathan Drew Morgan after an incident on Lake Keowee in the far western part of the state last week, according to CBS.
WHNS-TV gave Morgan’s age as 29.
According to a news release Monday from the Oconee County Sheriff’s Office, “10th Circuit Solicitor David Wagner has determined that the shooting was in self-defense and no charges will be filed.”
In a news release Wednesday, the sheriff’s office said that about 2 p.m. March 15, a man and a woman on a pontoon boat “observed a man and a woman, who had been on a Jet Ski, in distress in the water.”
Neither person had a life jacket on.
Nathan Drew Morgan Obituary: Murder Case Ruled as Self Defense https://t.co/HEmKi0k7DP
— DeathNotice (@DeathNotice4) March 21, 2022
The couple in the pontoon boat pulled up so that Morgan and the woman could climb aboard as their watercraft, riderless, did circles in the lake.
Morgan, according to the release, “became agitated and began assaulting the couple on the pontoon.”
The WYFF-TV report is below:
Investigators believe Morgan wanted to get back to the watercraft.
That wasn’t going to happen.
As the drama on the pontoon boat escalated, the woman who had been rescued tried to calm things down by shoving Morgan into the water, according to the release.
The couple helped him back into the pontoon boat, but the confrontation there escalated once again, according to the release.
The man driving the pontoon boat “fearing for his and his wife’s life while being assaulted” then shot Morgan, who died on the pontoon boat, the release stated.
Guy sounded like he was drunk. Can't get back on a jet ski doing donuts. Have to let it run out of gas. Feel sorry for the rescuers having to defend themselves.https://t.co/pnG8ebW4Xi
— lisa walker🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦 (@gimpgalore) March 21, 2022
Investigators said there could have been an argument between Morgan and the woman before they fell off the watercraft.
In a statement, the Oconee County Sheriff’s Office said it was “asking for continued prayer for the family of Nathan Drew Morgan, who is the deceased as a result of the shooting.”
Officials did not name the couple or the woman with Morgan.