couple jet ski personal watercraft
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Guardian angels in a pontoon boat rescued a couple who were thrown from a rogue Jet Ski on Lake Keowee in western South Carolina. As frequently happens, no good deed goes unpunished as the male half of the couple, already agitated at losing control of his personal watercraft, turned his aggression on the pontoon boat owners and assaulted them.

One thing led to another and, fearing for his life and that of his wife, the good Samaritan boat captain shot Nathan Morgan, 29, (not pictured above) once in the chest, killing him dead right there.

MSN News has the story:

A South Carolina man was fatally shot by a boater after he was rescued and allegedly became aggressive.

Nathan Drew Morgan, 29, and an unnamed woman were thrown off their Jet Ski at Lake Keowee on Tuesday afternoon and investigators believe the pair may have been arguing before the incident.

A man and woman on a pontoon boat nearby observed Morgan and the unnamed woman struggling in the water. Neither individual wore life jackets and both showed signs of distress in the water, according to police.

According to police, the couple on the boat approached Morgan and the woman and the two got on board as the unmanned Jet Ski continued to circle the lake. After boarding the boat, Morgan allegedly became “agitated” and began assaulting the couple that rescued him.

The story doesn’t mention if alcohol was involved. Mr. Morgan hailed from South Carolina, not the Sunshine State, so he can’t claim Florida Man status.

The surviving parties are talking with the police. “Cooperating” in the lingo of the press.  Cops believe the couple on the Jet Ski were arguing before Mr. Morgan lost control of the craft, dumping the couple in the drink.  Of course, they were operating sans life jackets or a kill switch lanyard.

Either way, nothing says “Thank you for saving my ass,” like assaulting someone who just pulled you from distress in the water.

Oconee County Sheriff’s Deputies were dispatched just after 2 p.m. to reports of a shooting, according to police. Officials with the Criminal Investigations Division and Special Operations Division, including the Marine Unit, were also called to the scene.

The investigation is ongoing and all parties involved are cooperating, police said.

The 10th Circuit Solicitor’s Office is meeting with investigators this week to determine whether probable cause exists for criminal charges or if this was a case of self-defense.

South Carolina is a “stand your ground” state, even though there’s not a lot of opportunity to retreat on your average pontoon boat. And as the BBC reports, the boat owner won’t be charged . . .

…Oconee County Sheriff’s department said prosecutors had determined the shooting took place in self-defence.

In a short statement, officials said 10th Circuit Solicitor David Wagner made the decision after meeting with investigators and asked “for continued prayer for the family of Nathan Drew Morgan”.

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58 COMMENTS

  1. sounds like a service writer ticket i remember for a non- running jet- ski.
    “just died on lake.”
    they should have named him bob. or skip, if he still had it in him.

  2. Dang! No good deed. Drunk and/or high idiots I betcha. Any comment from the gal pal/wife?

    • How about a comment from someone who lives there?…

      Told my co-workers that I bet we would make the news again…lol. Yes, Keowee is about 15min away, along with Clemson, Lake Hartwell, and Lake Jocassee is just up the road. If you dive, Jocassee is the place, some of the clearest water this side of the Rocky’s.

      Know what else Jocassee is famous for? The Movie ‘Deliverance’…last scene is the old Baptist Church grave yard being exhumed. Grave yard is still there and at 125’ full pond, very silty but worth it. I’ve dove the hot hole at Keowee a few times in the winter as well.

  4. And the female half will no doubt say, “Billy Bob was a good man, I loved him so”!!

    • And probably blame herself. ‘𝑯𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒎𝒂𝒅 𝒂𝒕 𝒎𝒆. 𝑰 𝒅𝒐𝒏’𝒕 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒘𝒉𝒚 𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒊𝒕 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒄𝒖𝒆𝒅 𝒖𝒔.’

  5. “South Carolina is one of 38 states that have stand-your-ground laws that allow residents to use deadly force in self-defense,” says MSN.

    Facepalm.

    “The news” is the province of liars and idiots.

  6. RE: “Oconee County Sheriff’s Deputies were dispatched just after 2 p.m. to reports of a shooting, according to police. Officials with the Criminal Investigations Division and Special Operations Division, including the Marine Unit, were also called to the scene.
    The 10th Circuit Solicitor’s Office is meeting with investigators this week to determine whether probable cause exists for criminal charges or if this was a case of self defense.”

    Pull the trigger and next comes the above army to scrutinize your every move. It ain’t over until the scrutinizers say it’s over. Obviously they factor in with self defense so do it by the book.

  7. Mr. Boch, Why did you have to drag us into it. Other than us Floridians backing South Carolina’s play a few years ago, we have little to do with those hot heads. Well, I have shot a few of their gobblers. So, there’s that. Of course, their game department didn’t mind me paying into Pittman-Robertson. Or, buying their out of state license and tags. Of course all the local businesses hated me and Mark. We rented rooms locally. Ate in local restaurants. Went to bed early. Gone before the sun came up. Except for changing the linen they didn’t even know we were there. Fudds suck!

    • LOL Gadsden Flag
      You reminded me of the bed and breakfast where I used to live, they complained of the duck feathers and blood. They didn’t mind taking the money they just wanted everything like they liked it.
      You cant have one without the other.
      On the other end of the stick the duck hunting club I worked for didn’t give a sht about that. Mud, blood, dogs, feathers n guts, its all good. However our fees were a little bit higher .
      BTW I always wanted to be on TV , Duck Dynasty cut me out of the frame,,,,,fuckers. Cinema sux

      • Was your beard long enough? Otherwise, I think you’d be a great addition to the show.
        But ya gotta have the whiskers to make that show.

        • I tried the beard thing but it got so full of mud and tangled up in my feet that I had to chew it off.

  8. I suspect the deceased’s tox screen will come back positive for alcohol and perhaps more. I’d also hazard a guess the couple was in the midst of a domestic when they went into the drink.

    Either way, I’m sorry for the rescuing couple. They do the right thing by their fellow man, and end up having to defend their own lives with lethal force for their efforts. SMH.

  9. Rookie, it’s not the first time the Good Samaritan became the victim. Seen it before. This planet is a dangerous place to live. Be careful.

    • Gadsden Flag,

      A few years back, I saw young (e.g. stupid) men jumping off short cliffs into a lake. I say “stupid” because they apparently failed to consider that they had to swim about 300 yards in cold and deep water to reach the shore after jumping into the water. I noticed one guy who really struggled to make it to shore. As I walked by, I inquired with him about the “wisdom” of his choice to jump into the lake. His response: it wasn’t such a great idea–he wasn’t sure if he was going to make it and was hoping that I would swim out to help him.

      There is no way on God’s green Earth that I am going to attempt to swim out 200+ yards in very cold and deep water to try and rescue some fool who jumped in. I can even picture him, in a panic, trying to climb on top of me and end up drowning both of us. Nope, not interested.

      • “I can even picture him, in a panic, trying to climb on top of me and end up drowning both of us. Nope, not interested.”

        Likely outcome, that. Staying on dry ground was a wise move on your part.

  11. This just in:

    The pontoon boat captain, fearing murder charges, threw his handgun overboard thinking that police could not charge him with murder if they could not produce the murder weapon. Local police wanted to ensure a conviction so they sent their dive time into the lake to find the captain’s handgun. In an unexpected twist, the dive team found thousands of firearms on the bottom of the lake proving that “freak boating accidents with firearms going overboard” are far more common than anyone imagined. Local police are now reopening decades of unsolved murders.

    • I’m thinking all these boating mishaps and the resultant loss of hardware might actually explain the recent rise in water levels mistakenly attributed to Global Climate Melting™. No?

  12. Funny.

    In sc a Democrat representative, Glenn Reese, spear headed an effort to ban guns on boats in Lake Bowen. Long story it was kind of a personal vendetta. Glenn was not a bad Dem always voted well enough to get an NRA A rating until this. In the Nov election he got his tail kicked very badly by an unknown challenger. Dont make waves.

  13. Nope, they dragged the drunk water scooters on board and he fell back into the water. Then he started yelling “!!! Shark , shark!!! and the good samaritan started blasting . Then to cover their ass they made up a story, and he gets a cut on the $100,099 accidental life insurance policy.
    It was all planned.

    • How do even come up with such a scenario, possum? Sounds a little suspicious to me… 😉

  14. SAW THAT ARTILE ON THE NET . IN WHAT THE HECK JUST HAPPENED .
    TO BAD SAVER DIDN’T HAVE A PEPPER SPRAY JELL , SO NEXT BEST THING IS A PISTOL , TO BAD DIDN’T SHOOT THE GUY IN BOTH KNEE CAPS AND TOSS HIM / BOTH BACK INTO THE WATER .

    LIKE THAT STORY ABOUT BIRD IN SNOW STORM FALLS OUT NEST ONTO THE GROUND , COW COMES BY DUMPS ON IT , BIRD WARMS UP , STARTS CHIRPPING , FOX HEARS IT COMES BY AND EATS THE BIRD .
    GUY SHOULD HAVE BEEN THANKFUL IN KEPT HIS MOUTH SHUT .

    SO WHAT WOULD I’VE DONE , UUUM , I DO CARRY PEPPER GEL AND PISTOL . WHICH ONE TO USE FIRST ???

      • James, I’m betting he just shouts at them, repeatedly, over n over n over again, repeatedly, over n over n over again, rep…

  15. Never argue with your woman. Even if you win, you lose.
    And if you lose your cool and hit her, you could lose your guns.
    Best to simply take it all calmly, shrug, and go back to whatever you were doing before the flare-up. Half the time, they’re probably right anyway. It has worked for me for 38 years with a gal who loves to argue.

  16. It is unfortunate, but have you seen the guy’s picture?

    Just another curly haired thug from a broken family, if you know what I mean…

    Prayer in school could’ve probably prevented this, I’m sure.

    “A native of Asheville, NC, Drew was the son of Blane Morgan and the late Pamela Annette Davis. He was a member of Flat Shoals Baptist Church.“

    • The man was a tatted out white dude bro who could be described as being on the ripped side. He did have dark hair but it wasn’t especially curly. I couldn’t find a picture of the woman that was with him.

    • “but have you seen the guy’s picture?”

      No Miner, but we are sure it’s now in your ‘collection’.

  17. I read elsewhere that the girlfriend pushed the soon to be deceased back into the water after his first round of “agitation”. After he got back on the pontoon boat he started wailing on the older couple and thats when he was permanently stopped.
    Sounds to me like Mr. Morgan was someone that probably had long term anger management issues and it finally and inevitably caught up with him.

    • Or a head injury.

      People sometimes get really wild and aggressive if they’ve taken a really good shot to the head, especially if it knocked them out for a bit.

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