No charges will be filed against a boater who shot and killed a man that he rescued from a fallen jet ski.
A statement from the Oconee County Sheriff’s Office in South Carolina says the 74-year-old man who shot Nathan Drew Morgan, 29, acted in self-defense.
Morgan was shot aboard a pontoon boat on Lake Keowee on Tuesday.
Morgan and a woman were in distress, having fallen off their Jet Ski into the lake. The two had no life jackets and the Jet Ski was circling around them.
The 74-year-old man and his wife, who were on a boat nearby, went to rescue the pair out of the water. The couple on the boat told authorities Morgan “became agitated and began assaulting” them.
Investigators were told he may have wanted to get back on the Jet Ski. They also believe there may have been an argument between Morgan and the woman he was with before they fell into the water. It is also believed that Morgan was intoxicated.
According to the Sheriff’s office, Morgan and the woman were still fighting on the couple’s boat. The woman who was with Morgan then pushed him back into the lake in an attempt to defuse the situation.
The couple on the boat helped Morgan aboard again. Soon after, the 74-year-old man shot Morgan after a second encounter. The man said he feared for his and his wife’s lives.
Morgan died on the boat from a gunshot wound to the chest.
Authorities have denied the request to name the couple involved.
No charges have been made to any parties involved in the incident.
