No charges are to be made against an elderly man who shot a jet skier after saving him from drowning in a lake in South Carolina last week.
The bizarre incident saw the 74-year-old boater and his wife rescue a couple in danger, Nathen Drew Morgan, 29, and an unnamed woman from Lake Keowee, last Tuesday.
The elderly pair were altered to the couple after they noticed their jet ski circling in the water, according to police.
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The boater had helped Mr Morgan and the woman onboard his pontoon when Mr Morgan began to threaten them.
Police said Mr Morgan assaulted both the older man and woman whilst aboard their boat.
The woman who was with Mr Morgan pushed him back into the water, but the elderly couple helped him back on board once again, attempting to save his life.
However, the threatening resumed, and the older man shot Mr Morgan in the chest. The father of one then bled out on the boat.
Police confirmed that the man would not be charged criminally for the shooting as he thought Mr Morgan was threatening his life.
A spokesman for the sheriff’s office said on Monday that although Mr Morgan was unarmed because he was younger than the other man, he posed a physical threat.
They added there was ‘no evidence’ the older couple knew him or the woman on the jet ski.
According to the sheriff’s office, after being saved from the 63-degree water, Mr Morgan began arguing with the older man, and his girlfriend pushed him back into the lake in an attempt to defuse the situation.
Investigators were told he may have wanted to get back on the jet ski.
The couple on the pontoon helped him aboard again, but Mr Morgan remained belligerent, and the elderly man shot him, telling officials he feared for his and his wife’s lives.
Sheriff Mike Crenshaw said Mr Morgan may have been intoxicated, but an autopsy to clarify the situation was pending.
Investigators also believe an argument between Mr Morgan and the unidentified woman may have led to the couple falling into the water.
Authorities declined to name the couple.
According to his obituary, Mr Morgan was a Flat Shoals Baptist Church member and had a 10-year-old son.
Friends of Mr Morgan took to Facebook to express their disbelief at the circumstances of the bizarre case.
One said: “And…anyone who knew drew knows this is absolute BS.
“He wouldn’t hurt or attack anyone unless HE FELT THREATENED!”
Mr 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.”
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Pensioner shoots and kills man moments after rescuing him from drowning in ‘bizarre’ case
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