Did he get away with murder? Good Samaritan who saved Nathan Drew Morgan from drowning only to fatally shoot the man moments later along South Carolina’s Lake Keowee spared charges after claiming he shot man in self defense.
A Good Samaritan who rescued a drowning man while out on a pleasure cruise with his wife along South Carolina waters will not face charges after claiming the man he had just saved had become argumentative and threatening him, leading to the 74 year old fatally shooting the individual he had only moments earlier saved from almost certain death.
A statement from the Oconee County Sheriff’s Office cited 10th Judicial Circuit Solicitor David Wagner on Friday, saying that the Tuesday shooting of 29-year-old Nathan Drew Morgan by an unnamed 74-year-old man ‘was in self-defense and no charges will be filed.’
Morgan, a Walhalla resident, was shot aboard a pontoon boat on Lake Keowee.
Morgan and the man’s girlfriend were in distress, having fallen off their Jet Ski into the lake according to the Oconee County sheriff’s office. The two had no life jackets and the Jet Ski was circling.
The 74-year-old man and his wife on a pontoon boat drove over to help the pair out of the lake, the sheriff’s office said. The couple on the boat told authorities Morgan ‘became agitated and began assaulting’ them.
Intoxicated?
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.
Sheriff Mike Crenshaw told WMUR that Morgan may have been intoxicated. An autopsy report is still pending.
The woman who was with Morgan pushed him back into the lake in an attempt to defuse the situation, the sheriff’s office has said. The couple on the pontoon helped him aboard again. It is at this point the unidentified 74 year old man shot Morgan following a second encounter, saying he feared for his and his wife’s lives.
Authorities have declined to name the couple.
Morgan died on the boat from a gunshot wound to the chest, the Oconee County Coroner’s Office said.
Brandon Thomas, who lives nearby, told WSPA-TV the shooting was ‘crazy’ and ‘unexpected’ given the area.
‘Certainly, have never seen anything like that or heard anything that like that,’ he said.
Getting away with murder?
Morgan was a member of the Flat Shoals Baptist Church, according to his obituary, and enjoyed being out on the water and fishing.
He is survived by his 10-year-old son.
Friends who knew the man expressed their anger and confusion over the strange case.
‘And…anyone who knew drew knows this is absolute BS. He wouldn’t hurt or attack anyone unless HE FELT THREATENED!’ wrote Kelcie Bratton on Facebook.
She continued: ‘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.’
Another friend of Morgan, Kesslin Cole, shared Bratton’s frustration and called for more from Oconee authorities. Posting:
‘You call this JUSTICE!!!??? This is far from that!!! IF THE MURDERERS TRULY FEARED FOR THEIR LIVES they should’ve left Drew in the water after he was pushed back in. To pull him back on their boat a SECOND TIME clearly shows they didn’t fear for their lives as much as they claim. This is MURDER!!!! & I pray this is not something that those who loved him settle for, but instead fight for the Justice HE TRULY DESERVES!!!’
