A stranded jet skier without a life preserver was saved from a South Carolina lake only to be shot to death by his rescuer after growing agitated, according to a local sheriff’s department.
A man and a woman were spotted in the water in Lake Keowee last Tuesday by a couple on a pontoon boat. The couple made their way over to the jet skiers and pulled them from the water. Deputies say the pair were not wearing life jackets when they were rescued.
Oconee County Sheriff’s deputies say they were called in around 2:16 p.m. when the situation became violent.
“The Jet Ski continued running and was doing circles in the lake,” deputies stated in a press release last week. “The man, who had been rescued, became agitated and began assaulting the couple on the pontoon. Investigators have been told that the man may have wanted to get back to the Jet Ski.”
Deputies say their investigation found that the woman who had been jet-skiing pushed her companion back into the water in an attempt to de-escalate the situation. The boating couple then pulled him from the water again.
“After a second encounter, the man on the pontoon shot the man fearing for his and his wife’s life while being assaulted,” Oconee County deputies report. “The man who was shot died on the pontoon.”
According to KTLA sister station WSPA, the man shot was identified as 29-year-old Nathan Drew Morgan of Walhalla, South Carolina. The other individuals involved have not been named.
No charges will be filed against the 74-year-old who shot Morgan, according to KTLA sister station WTRF. The local solicitor deemed the shooting self-defense.