A 74-year-old boater who fatally shot a drowning man he had been trying to save won't face criminal charges, South Carolina officials have confirmed.
As reported by BBC News, prosecutors stated that the unnamed boater acted in self-defense when he shot and killed 29-year-old Nathan Drew Morgan, who was drowning on Tuesday in Lake Keowee.
Lake Keowee is said to be a very dangerous man-made reservoir and a site marred by avoidable deaths over the last three decades.
In a statement, authorities said 10th Circuit Solicitor David Wagner made the decision not to charge the unidentified boater after a meeting with police, in which he asked "for continued prayer for the family of Nathan Drew Morgan".
According to officials, Morgan, a father of one, and an accompanying female fell off their jet ski without their life jackets. It was then that the 74-year-old man tried to help the two by steering over a pontoon boat to them, while their jet ski was circling the water.
But Morgan became "agitated" after he was pulled to safety, reportedly forcing the woman who was with him to push him back into the water.
"The man, who had been rescued, became agitated and began assaulting the couple on the pontoon," officers said in a statement. "Investigators have been told that the man may have wanted to get back to the Jet Ski."
Sheriff Mike Crenshaw has since speculated that Morgan may have been intoxicated.
After Morgan was pushed into the water, he was once again rescued by the elderly man, before being shot dead by the latter, who said he feared "for his and his wife's life while being assaulted".
Police arrived at the scene just after 2:15 PM local time after they were alerted to the shooting.
The autopsy results showed that Morgan was killed by a single gunshot to the chest while on board the man's pontoon boat.
“Certainly have never seen anything like that or heard anything like that,” local resident Brandon Thomas told WSPA-TV after the incident.
“That’s very surprising, especially the area it was in,” he added. “That’s crazy. Definitely unexpected out here, for sure.”
