South Carolina boater, 74, will NOT be charged for shooting dead jet skier, 29, who assaulted him and his wife after they rescued him following accident on the water
- Nathan Drew Morgan, 29, was shot dead on Lake Keowee last Tuesday
- The 74-year-old man who shot him has not been named and won't face charges
- Police say Morgan was in the water in 'distress' with a woman after falling off a jet ski when the older man and his wife found them
- The older couple pulled them to safety on their pontoon boat, but Morgan then became belligerent
- Morgan 'threatened' the older man and the women on board so the older man shot him
- He bled out on the boat and died before they returned to shore
- Morgan was a father-of-one; his family has not yet reacted to the sheriff's decision
PUBLISHED: 22:36 GMT, 20 March 2022 | UPDATED: 13:35 GMT, 21 March 2022
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An elderly South Carolina boater will not be charged for shooting dead a jet skier he rescued from a lake last week in a bizarre chain of events that sheriffs have insisted led to a self-defense killing.
The boater, 74, has not been named by police. Last Tuesday, he was on Lake Keowee with his wife when they encountered Nathan Drew Morgan, 29, and an unnamed woman in the water.
Morgan and the woman were in 'distress' and their jet ski was circling in the water, according to police.
The elderly boater and his wife helped them on board their pontoon, but Morgan became belligerent and threatening.
Exactly what happened next is unclear but police say Morgan assaulted both the older man and woman on the boat.
The younger woman pushed Morgan back into the water. The elderly couple then helped him back on board again in a second show of mercy, but then felt suddenly threatened again.
The older man shot Morgan and he bled out on the boat. Police now say that the older man will not be charged criminally for the shooting and that he thought Morgan - a father-of-one - was threatening his life.
A spokesman for the sheriff's office said on Monday morning Morgan was unarmed but because he was so much younger than the other man, he posed a physical threat.
The spokesman said there is 'no evidence' the older couple knew him or the woman on the jet ski.
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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
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After being saved from the 63-degree water, Morgan began arguing with his rescuer and his girlfriend pushed him back into the lake in an attempt to defuse the situation, the sheriff's office said. Investigators were told he may have wanted to get back on the jet ski.
The couple on the pontoon helped him aboard again, but Morgan remained belligerent and the elderly man shot him, telling officials he feared for his and his wife's lives.
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Morgan, of Walhalla, died on the boat from a gunshot wound to the chest, the Oconee County Coroner's Office said.
Sheriff Mike Crenshaw told the paper that Morgan may have been intoxicated. An autopsy report is pending.
Investigators also believe there may have been an argument between Morgan and the unidentified girlfriend he was with before they fell into the water the first time.
Authorities have declined to name the couple.
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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 10-year-old son.
Friends of the victim questioned the circumstances behind the bizarre case.
'And...anyone who knew drew knows this is absolute BS.
'He wouldn’t hurt or attack anyone unless HE FELT THREATENED!' Kelcie Bratton wrote on Facebook.
Bratton added: 'He would never harm anyone who would try to help him in a situation and I know this first hand.'
'He was a big teddy bear inside but if you harmed anyone he loved or crossed a certain line and stepped at him first he would have finished it off.
'He's not here to defend himself and the ones involved seem like they are not telling the whole truth behind this.'
Kesslin Cole, another friend of Morgan, echoed Bratton's feelings and called out for a further investigation by Oconee authorities.
'This Amazing man had a son who lost his Best friend & Drew's parents will never see their son again...Many people throughout the community lost a very special friend, [and] This is all we get...You call this JUSTICE [?] This is far from that,' Cole wrote.
After the 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 near the northwest border North Carolina and Georgia. More than 32 people have drowned in the lake in the past 30 years.
