Gil Collar Shooting: University of South Alabama Freshman Killed By Campus Police Officer

Gil Collar, a first-year student at the University of South Alabama, was shot and killed by a campus police officer early Saturday morning after he allegedly charged the officer repeatedly in a threatening manner. Collar was reportedly naked at the time.

According to London’s Daily Mail, “Gil Collar, 18, reportedly knocked on the window of the campus police station and charged at an officer who came out to investigate. The officer shot him dead.”

An initial University of South Alabama press release stated the following:

“University of South Alabama Police report that an officer shot and killed an individual at approximately 1:30 a.m., Oct. 6, after the man attacked the officer just outside the police department on Stadium Drive The deceased has been identified as a USA student.”

In a more detailed report, the school later identified the student as “Gilbert Thomas Collar, an 18-year-old freshman from Wetumpka, Ala.” and extended condolences to his family.

ABC reports that Collar rushed the officer again even after being shot in the chest. Collar, a high-school wrestler, allegedly refused all commands to stop during the incident and was behaving erratically.

The officer is on paid administrative leave pending an investigation by the local district attorney and the Mobile County Sheriff’s Department and an autopsy to check for drugs or alcohol.

Apparently the confrontation was recorded by surveillance video.

Some students are wondering why the officer had to use deadly force rather than a taser or another device or technique on an unarmed man, but undoubtedly further details will be forthcoming.

Local TV station WKRG aired this report about the Gil Collar shooting: