OCONEE COUNTY, S.C. – Oconee County deputies said a man will not be charged following a shooting on a pontoon boat on Lake Keowee earlier this week.
According to the sheriff’s office, the shooting was ruled as self-defense.
We previously reported that the shooting happened Tuesday afternoon on Lake Keowee near Fall Creek Landing Number 2.
Once deputies arrived on the scene, they learned a man and a woman on a pontoon boat saw a man and a woman, who had been on a jet ski, in distress in the water. Neither one was wearing a life jacket.
According to the sheriff’s office, the couple drove the pontoon over and got the man and woman out of the water and onto the pontoon boat.
The jet ski was still running and doing circles in the lake.
Deputies said the man who had been rescued, became agitated and began assaulting the couple on the pontoon. Investigators were told that the man may have wanted to get back to the jet ski.
The sheriff’s office said the woman, who was on the jet ski, attempted to deescalate the assault by pushing the man, who had also been on the jet ski, back into the water.
The couple helped the man get back on the boat a second time.
After a second encounter, deputies said the man on the pontoon shot the man fearing for his and his wife’s life while being assaulted.
The coroner’s office said 29-year-old Nathan Drew Morgan, from Walhalla, was shot in the chest while on the pontoon boat.
Investigators were told that there may have been some type of argument between the man and the woman on the jet ski before they were ejected into the water.
According to the sheriff’s office, the 10th Circuit Solicitor’s Office determined the case was self-defense based on evidence presented Thursday from investigators.
