A disturbing case was reported where an older South Carolina couple was forced to shoot a man after saving him from drowning. Reportedly, the couple saved the man and his girlfriend from drowning, however, the man threatened them and so in self-defense the old man shot him to death. While the police have shut the case, citing it to be self-defense, friends and family of the dead man have requested the police to reopen the case as they refuse to believe the incident.
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Police had refused to charge an elderly South Carolina boater who is accused of shooting dead a jet skier he rescued from a lake last week in a bizarre chain of events that sheriffs have insisted led to a self-defense killing.
The boater, 74, has been kept anonymous by the police. Last Tuesday, the boater was on Lake Keowee with his wife when they encountered Nathan Drew Morgan, 29, and an unnamed woman in the water.
According to police, Morgan and the woman were in 'distress' and their jet ski was circling in the water. Thus, the elderly boater and his wife helped them board on their pontoon, but things took a turn when Morgan became belligerent and threatening.
Though it is unclear what happened next police reports say that Morgan assaulted both the older man and woman on the boat.
The younger woman, who is unnamed then pushed Morgan back into the water and the elderly couple again tried to lend a helping hand to him, however, they felt threatened again.
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It was at this moment that the older man shot Morgan and let him bled out on the boat.
Police have confirmed that the elderly boater won't be charged criminally for the shooting and that he thought Morgan - a father-of-one - was threatening his life.
A spokesman for the sheriff's office said on Monday morning Morgan was unarmed but because he was so much younger than the other man, he posed a physical threat.
The spokesman said there is 'no evidence' the older couple knew him or the woman on the jet ski.
Reportedly, after getting saved from 63-degree water, the unknown woman pushed Morgan back into the water 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 Morgan remained belligerent and the elderly man shot him, telling officials he feared for his and his wife's lives.
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Morgan, of Walhalla, died bleeding on the boat from a gunshot wound to the chest, the Oconee County Coroner's Office said.
Sheriff Mike Crenshaw also suggested that Morgan might have been intoxicated. An autopsy report is pending.
Investigators have pointed out that an argument between Morgan and the unidentified girlfriend ensued he was with before they fell into the water the first time.
Authorities have declined to name the older couple.
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Morgan's obituary shows that he was a member of Flat Shoals Baptist Church and enjoyed outdoor activities such as being on the water and fishing.
He is survived by a 10-year-old son.
However, friends of the victim questioned the circumstances behind the bizarre case.
'And...anyone who knew drew knows this is absolute BS.
'He wouldn’t hurt or attack anyone unless HE FELT THREATENED!' Kelcie Bratton wrote on Facebook.
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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Kesslin Cole, another friend of Morgan, echoed Bratton's feelings and called out for a further investigation by Oconee authorities.
'This Amazing man had a son who lost his Best friend & Drew's parents will never see their son again...Many people throughout the community lost a very special friend, [and] This is all we get...You call this JUSTICE [?] This is far from that,' Cole wrote.
After the shooting, Brandon Thomas, who lives nearby, told local news station WSPA he had never heard of a similar incident in the area.
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'Certainly have never seen [or heard] anything like that,' Thomas said. 'That's very surprising, especially the area it was in...That's crazy. Definitely unexpected out here, for sure.'
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Lake Keowee is a manmade reservoir near the northwest border North Carolina and Georgia.
More than 32 people have drowned in the lake in the past 30 years.