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Subscribe to RSSA University of South Alabama student who was found naked by campus police was killed by a single shot fired from an officer's weapon. WPMI's Darwin Singleton reports.
A day after a naked student at the University of South Alabama was fatally shot in the chest by a campus security guard, his mother and friends are asking why no other means were used to subdue the 18-year-old.
According to a statement released by the university, an officer heard loud banging on the police station window early Saturday and left his post to investigate. The man banging on the window was Gilbert Thomas Collar, an 18-year-old freshman who had graduated high school the previous spring. He was naked.
Collar was a wrestler whose favorite quotation, according to his Facebook profile, was “Be easy.” His profile photo is of himself, sporting a skinny black tie and light facial hair, his arm wrapped around his mother.
According to the university statement, the officer “was confronted by a muscular, nude man who was acting erratically. The man repeatedly rushed and verbally challenged the officer in a fighting stance.”
The officer allegedly asked Collar to stop, but the young student chased him “in a threatening manner and ignored the officer’s repeated commands.”
That’s when the officer drew his police sidearm and shot Collar once, striking him in the chest.
Collar “got up once more and continued to challenge the officer further before collapsing and expiring,” the report said. The officer has been placed on paid administrative leave pending an investigation.
Collar’s mother told CNN she doesn’t understand why the officer had to shoot her son. Her son, she said, was 5-foot-7 and weighed 135 pounds.
“He was wearing no clothes and he was obviously not in his right mind,” Bonnie Collar said. “Obviously he was not armed. He was completely naked.”
Sophomore Tyler Kendrick was also dissatisfied.
"Really, it just upsets me that there's no other way to apprehend an unarmed student rather than shooting him. I don't understand that," Kendrick told The Associated Press.
Campus officials said the confrontation was recorded by security cameras. The video and other information has been turned over to the district attorney and the Mobile County Sheriff's Office, which will review the shooting.
A university spokesman declined to say Saturday whether Collar was under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
The University of South Alabama is in Mobile and serves 15,000 students.
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I have no idea whether this shooting was justified or not, that we will find out as the facts are released.
I do however find it funny that because the guy was unarmed and nude, people say he was not a threat. As some one who was a decently ranked Dan in 3 styles by the time I went to collage, I can say that armed/unarmed and being dangerous are entirely different things. If I was "out there and trying to get at him", and the campus police/guard allowed me to get into 6' range he would be in a lot of trouble even with a gun out. The problem for police in general is not whether a person is armed or not, it is how dangerous are they overall to you. In the few seconds you have to make that decision you have to do everything you can to defend yourself and minimize the danger from someone acting with aggression and intent to harm you.
As for the shoot to kill vs shoot to wound idea. You are taught to shoot at the largest target, that is the torso. Those that think that people can just "shoot him in the arm or leg" watched to many movies. Shooting at a 4 to 8 inch moving target(arms/legs) instead or a 24 to 36 inch target (torso) makes no sense for safety both of you and or others around you. You shoot at the area you have the lowest chance of missing.
Again, I am not sure yet whether this shooting was justified, I just think we need to see the evidence first and understand that things are not simply black and white.
The cop did exactly the right thing.
I agree. What would the reason be to tolerate an attack? If you can't act without threatening others with your behavior, there is the risk of being beaten, shot, tazed, you name it. Deservedly so.
There is no excuse to use deadly force unless it was a last resort or he perceives a significant threat of death of bodily injury. If u have something besides a gun, use it.
rkb - You must be a druggie who is afraid you won't be tolerated on your next drugged out excursion.
More stories of stupid people with guns.
compared to the genius of running around naked attacking people. Too bad, blowhole, you don't get to act in any way that suits you and not arouse a confrontation from people who don't wish to suffer threatening behavior.
Why should anyone have put up with Naked Boy's behavior? He was warned, and he ignored it.
Boo Hoo
He was clearly not in his right mind and according to his mother was not even as big as an average sized man. Any man OR woman trained as either a police officer or Campus Police Officer (I work at a college) could have easily taken him down with non-lethal force if they had put any effort. If they couldn't then they had no right being in that position, making them an idiot. Stupid people with guns.
As a side note I fully agree that they should be armed with a taser for situations like this.
I think the guy who ate the homeless man's face off was naked too. Didn't make him less dangerous. What's wrong with you people?
Take drugs, act crazy, and attack people, and you will get shot! cops aren't mommies and daddies.
Go home to your mommy and daddy or GROW UP and take accountability for your actions!
I didn't read thae the stupid student had a gun. My concern is whether he had un-repaid student loans.
Rick - numbers
You might want to look into the effects of PCP. I have know of instances were 7 police officers couldn't subdue one guy on PCP. It is not a popular drug today but still a possibility.
Under drugs people can do all sorts of things. As a wrestler he was also trained in hand to hand combat. He was a very good wrestler. He could easily take a much larger man down. Even if the officer might have taken him the police are taught to NOT GAMBLE in such a situation..
Any mother should know that he got off'd for not having clean underwear on.
The mother should be arrested for raising such an idiot kid.
Maybe the student shouldn't have repeatedly charged the security officer.
"You should have found some other way to protect yourself from my raging, raving son."
Some men/police are always to anxious to use the freaking GUNS! This is ridicules - I hope the police officer is fired!
Still...easy to avoid. Just mind your own business, act legally and don't run around acting threatening and attacking other. How hard is that?
Just to be helpful...women can be as anxious to be violent as anyone else. Like the mom who shot her 4 kids and then herself last week. Also...it's ridiculous...
The mother (a woman as far as we know) might have seen to it her mentally ill moron son was in a more structured environment than letting him run wild through life until the inevitable happened. Why should the rest of us put up with this crap?
Why should he have to die unnecessarily ?
At what point in time do you think we are all responsible for our own actions? Druggies want to take drugs and be crazy - that's their problem. Quit bothering the rest of society with their stupidity! Cops aren't our "daddies". Not their job! You want a mommy and daddy, move back home. Otherwise, grow up and take accountability!
What we need to know is how big the cop was. It is a terrible misfortune that govt equality in hiring produces a death sentence for being drunk. I think the cop was probably a short little @!$%# who couldnt defend himself any other way. If the cop was 6'6" and 280lbs, (like they all should be) the drunk kid would still be alive.
Way too many cops are way to little for the job. They have a big head and a big gun, with a big chip on their shoulder from growing up little.
No we don't. We need to know what the naked moron thought he could just act out in any way that fit his mood and that the rest of us should just take it.
If you don't want to be shot down by a cop of any size, it is ridiculously easy. Obey the law, don't threaten and attack others, mind your own business. As in most police shootings, this idiot had every opportunity to back off and he chose to continue his criminal behavior. We won't miss him.
@ steve
Doesn't matter.
U wouldn't miss them unless it was one of your family members. Lack of empathy is also killing this country. Steve the dog definitely suits u.
rkb - At what point in time do you think we are all responsible for our own actions? Druggies want to take drugs and be crazy - that's their problem. Quit bothering the rest of society with their stupidity! Cops aren't our "daddies". Not their job! You want a mommy and daddy, move back home. Otherwise, grow up and take accountability!
ole
It doesn't matter how big the cop was.
They are trained to only get in hand to hand combat when it is unavoidable.
While wrestling he could lose his weapon and be shot. The kid could also take him take his weapon and kill other students. The kid could have had friends hiding and when the cop was fighting they could all have attacked.
Too many risks.
You point the gun and say STOP. If the attack continues expect the attacker to die.
If the officer had simply taken the time to get out the tape measure and scale and weighed and measured this young man...he or she would have known to call the mom and ask her permission to slap him on the wrist or give him detention. Is that what you think, hammerheads?
The Naked dead guy had every opportunity through several warnings to back off. He chose to continue.
Logic would dictate if the guy is naked and attacking someone, he's probably not coherent to make rational judgement.
rkb - Should the cop have lassoed him? Or maybe offered him milk and cookies? How should he be subdued?
RBK....What would logic dictate we should do then? He's not coherent, so we just just step back and let him go to it?. Logic would dictate you not act aggressive and threatening to an armed police person. Or you might get some new plumbing.
I have the same question as this guy's mother: Why?. Why did she raise and idiot and expect anything better out of him? Why should the security guard had to have taken a chance with his life and physically wrestle with a naked man? I would want to do that. How was the security guard supposed to know that this guy was just a student high or drunk and wouldn't really hurt him if he got the guard's weapon? Was the student drunk or high on some drugs? Why, why, why? I understand the mother's pain right now and my heart does go out to her despite my sarcasm in the post. In this day and age I wouldn't want to be that security guard's position though. With all the sickos and crazies out there you never know what somebody's intentions are and if they are even in their right mind. What if the student was a great person but had ingested one of those new drugs that have people chewing faces off or commiting suicide? He might have killed the guard and been sorry when the drugs wore off. In that scenario the guard would still be dead and his family would have been hurting like hell.
I hope the mother of the dead man is able to deal with her grief and not do something stupid like sue the school. She very well could have raised him properlly but he did something stupid. Why should the guard lose his job or the university get sued for his stupidity?
Did u ever ask yourself if the officer had other means to defend himself ?
rkb - They offered milk and cookies, but it just wouldn't work! Cops are not mommies and daddies. Stay home if you want a mommy and daddy. Otherwise, live within the law, and don't be a menace to society. Easy fix, no?
rkb5555
"Did u ever ask yourself if the officer had other means to defend himself ?"
I do wonder about that. I would expect that being campus security he would have at least had pepper spray, but at the end of the day us readers only know what the article tells us. I hope that he didn't have anything else for his sake. Can you imagine living with the guilt and pain of knowing that you killed a man if there was another way to resolve the situation? This story is bad enough so I hope that the security guard didn't have any other recourse. From my limited experience I would think that he could have called for back-up at the very least but the student may have pushed the encounter to the point the guard had to act. The problem is that none of us know exactly what happened so it makes it impossible to completely defend one side or the other.
I am just sick and tired of criminals and "bad children" getting over on others when they get caught or otherwise. It seems like every time you turn the channel or get on the internet something like this has happened and the family wants to sue the victims. I'm just speaking plainly here as I vent so don't read into each of my sentences litteraly as I think you probably understand my gist. It's a shame that what was probably a good kid going to college did something stupid and lost his life. It's sad that his mother has to bear the burden of outliving her own child. I can't and don't want to imagine the grief that she has to carry with her from now on. In my way of thinking, I also feel for the guard that got put in that situation. With all of the campus shootings as of late and the public shootings this guy found himself in a situation where he might not have known what to do and had to make a quick decision. What do think of all this?
Sad story, but why do grieving mothers never ask: "Why was my son/daughter disobeying the law? Why were they doing something that caused their shooting death by police?"
Agree! At what point are we not all responsible for our actions?
Born naked...shot to death naked. Circle of life...
Where are all the "for drugs", druggies? Just another reason to push for more drugs, kids! NOT!
I know everyone wants to believe this kind of thing can only happen with the help of an illicit substance but as a current college student, let me assure you this could be the direct result of stress. I have personally witnessed two freshman students this year go completely out of mind because of the immense pressure.
And you don't think I was under major stress to get through college, work almost full time and keep grades where I would not lose my scholarship? I was. And I never got naked and approached a campus cop or anyone else in a menacing manor.
To Barbara Ann and this Mickey woman, and all you other negative people, I knew Gil, my daughter grew up with he and his sister and knew his family well, I knew Gil well, he would have never taken any "bath salts" as you are trying to say!! This zombie crap is BS!!!! He was a good kid and whatever happened to the tasergun??!!! They use it on everybody else when they are trying to get the situation under control!!! He was a kid for God's sake!! You don't pull out a gun and just shoot an unarmed person!!! Police are supposed to be trained to take people down without having to use a gun!! I think this cop should be fired and the campus police needs to be sued!!! Although that wouldn't bring this sweet soul of a child back, and yes, I say child because in a mother's eyes your children are always your babies no matter how old they get and he was only 18!!! My thoughts and prayers go out to Gil's mother, father, sister,family members and all his friends in Wetumpka, AL and the ones he made in College. It's a sad day when a cop has to shoot a kid because he can't get the situation under control the way he should have been trained to do!!! Again, that's why they have TASER GUNS, and Gil would still be with us today!!! If any of you have anything to say to me, I welcome your comments, I'd go down fighting for this child anyday!!! RIP Gil Collar.
Yep, and if the officer was qualified to use a taser, had he used it and the boy still died, then you would be saying the officer should not have used the taser! Bottom line, this kid was obviously acting in a very strange and questionalble manner for whatever reason it may have been. The officer could not take the chance that the kid, in his current condition, might overpower him, get his gun, and kill innocent students. Yes, this was very tragic and my condolences go out to the family for their loss, but do not blame the officer for trying to save the lives of innocent students. For whatever the reason was, this kid created the situation that eventually caused his demise. The officer and the college can not be responsible for the actions of the student. Had Gil not been acting in an erratic manner, had Gil not attempted to attack the officer while naked, Gil would be alive today.
Of course the cops are going to say that Gil came after him time and time again, to cover up for the cops actions!!! You obviously haven't heard of coverups either!!! Gil's mother saw the video, she knows what really happened, you're all commenting on something you have no idea of what really happened!!! And if Gil was in as good of shape as they are claiming he was, a taser gun would not have killed him, he would still be here with us today!!!
Under the circustances the officer did the best thing he could do. He had no way of knowing if the kid was on drugs, mentally ill, or just plain crazy. He attempted to verbally get the kid to stop, when that did not work, instead of taking the chance on the kid, that was acting so crazy, from overpowering the officer and getting his gun then killing innocent students, the officer had to shoot. There was no time for the officer to wait as the kid was charging at him and refusing his commands to stop. If it turns out this kid was on drugs, he could have easily over powered the officer, taken his gun, and killed several innocent students. As tragic as it was, it was the best outcome under the circumstances! A drug crazed lunatic does not need a weapon to be dangerous, look at the guy in Florida that ate the other mans face! There were no weapons involved there!
Again, that's what they have TASER GUNS FOR YOU IDIOT!!!
Tasers do not work on many drugged out people.
PCP is a good example.
http://www.dosenation.com/listing.php?id=7517
In the above case it was 4 officers and 4 tasers.
Some similarities too:
If the kid was any good at wrestling he could have killed thecop, so just because he's naked doesn't mean he wasn't a lethal threat. If the cop had a taser, he should have used it; if he didn't have one, that's too bad. Either way, the story as reported shows the cop acted appropriately.
Some of you people can say the most idiotic and cruel comments, what if this had been your child??!! Think about what you say before you say it, next time it could be one of your loved ones!!! May God have mercy on your soul for the thoughtless comments you are saying to a grieving mother and her family!!! You people make me sick!!! Kids do things in College that they may not be proud of the next day but that's all a part of it!!! They're on their own for the first time and having a good time, there's nothing wrong with that!! They all play pranks, I'm sure all of you have done things in your hay days that you're not too proud of, but should you have been shot for it??!!! It seems to me that you need to grow up, you freakin morons!!! Leave this family be and let them grieve. I pray that you never have to experience what this family is having to experience now. You should all be ashamed of yourselves for some of these stupid comments your leaving on here!!!
Allison please read my comment below. It was one of my kids one time. You have no brain, but your bleeding heart. Yes, it is too bad when something like this happens, but what would your suggestion be ... you want the officer to go over and hug him, and maybe a little TLC to talk him down? Think before YOU talk. You don't know what you're talking about.
True that they may not be proud of what they did the next day, but THE NEXT DAY IS TOO LATE ... THE CONSEQUENCES ARE ALREADY THERE.
Don't tell me I don't have a brain, I'm smart enough to know that when cops are in the wrong, they all stick together and that's when you get coverups of what really happened!!! I don't care if he was a campus cop!!! They're all trained the same way, if he was so "AFRAID" of him, he could have tased him or used his billy club to take him down and then put the handcuffs on him!!!
If everyone makes you sick, why are you on here reading the comments? And if you do all that praying, who are you to judge them? Just wondering....
And I am a Mother. And it could be my child. If they kept coming at someone with a gun, they have taken on the role of aggressor and thay are responsible for what happens to them. No I am not overlooking the sadness of the situation, just "keeping it real" as some like to say.
Because I knew Gil very well and knew what kind of person Gil was, that's why I'm on here!!! And who are you and the others to judge Gil's character??!! You didn't know him!!! All of you people put your trust into the wrong people, you believe everything you read!!! Oh no, the police could never cover up anything or make it out to look like Gil was some kind of drugged out monster just to cover their own butts!!! "Just keeping it real!!"
Allison, Gil took away all doubt about what kind of person he is. Should we put our trust in raving, threatening naked wrestlers? Do you? How's that working out?
RE: Judging Gil's "character." One could easily quote Forrest Gump "Stupid is as stupid does" and that wouldn't be too far off base.
However, even if one doesn't attempt to judge Gil's character, which admittedly is usually a safer approach, one can sure judge Gil's actions at that point in time.
If this happened to my kid, the first question I'd ask is "Why would he behave that way?"
Allison
Did you know Gil under the influence of PCP, or some designer drug?
I'm not saying he used any drugs for sure but he might have. Lots of good kids experiment in college. I did. I smoked Angles Dust once, horrible experience for me. I'm 60 it was a long time ago but I remember thinking it was like being dead and I didn't want to be dead.
http://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugfacts/hallucinogens-lsd-peyote-psilocybin-pcp
For all of you idiots who say "why didn't he tackle him" or "maybe he should have tased him", or "there must have been some other way to subdue him ... including Mom (I am sorry for your loss by the way)...you are the stupidest group of people collectively I have ever encountered. Did you read where the young boy got back up afetr being shot in the c hest, and resumed his aggressive stance ... does that tell you anything. No, probably not. Go sign up with your local police department and face off with one or two of these people who are whacked out on drugs, or whatever, and after you finish crapping your pants, and running your azz off then tell me how you subdued him. You are all full of s ___.
Actually you're the stupid one if you believe everything you read!!! You ever heard of coverups??!!!! And if you were sorry for his mother's loss, you wouldn't have written what you wrote!!! You're one of the morons I was speaking of!!! I hope you don't have any children and that this never happens to one of yours!!! You're a horrible person!!
@ Allison May, I can understand and respect the fact that you are taking up for your friend but accusing the police of a cover up is irresponsible. What would you want done if a naked man jumped out of the bushes at night and started getting agressive with you sister or mother? Put one of them in place of the guard. If I knew nothing else about this story but this: naked guy, agressive nature, not following orders from security and banging on windows I would feel the same way. He didn't deserve to die if there was another way to subdue him but he put himself in that position. Would you want your father to have to mix it up with a suspicious naked man if he was a cop? I wouldn't want my Dad in that situation. I would be scared to hell and back at what the naked man might do to him.
By all means take up for your friend and talk about the good things he did but don't accuse the police (campus security) of heinous crimes to make your friend look better. That makes you look immature and irrational. I think most of us get it that he was probably a great guy that did something stupid at the very least and then tragically got killed. During the course of my youth I did my fair share of stupid stuff that I thought was funny at the time. I am glad I didn't get killed, beat up or thrown in jail but if I had gotten caught I would have deserved what I got. Grieve for your friend and remember the better parts about him but don't make up playground lies to try and redeem his reputation.
Caue he was naked and would not back off. Sad that it had to come to that.
Allison, I think you are showing a lot more interest in a muscular naked guy than is appropriate.
Denial is not just a river in Egypt! This kid was on something or had a psychotic break. Anyway the poor officer that shot him has to live with this for the rest of his life just as the relatives of the young man have to do. Whatever caused him to flip our will be known soon with the autopsy results. My best guess is either bath salts or methamphetamine. Weed or booze does not usually cause this type of behavior, but we already all know this don't we?
I suspect the officer may be the type who is averse to having his face chewed off.
Next time the officer should simply let the naked bath salts/pcp psycho dine on his or someone else's face.
As harsh as it may seem, these type of incidents need to either filmed or photographed to be shown to high school students before they end up in the same situation. Life is hard enough.....with out drugs.
So this big, bad police officer felt mortally threatened by a naked, spaced out young man? So he feels killing him was an appropriate way to handle the situation? And now he gets paid vacation for the killing, some R&R time to get his story together? America's finest, here!
Meanwhile, if approached by a cop, you have two choices: either grovel and allow them to do whatever they feel like, or go Old West and see who is faster on the trigger. This is what all this unprovoked killing by cops is going to foster - when people feel they are going to be shot no matter what, they are going to start defending themselves. A day of reckoning IS coming!
OK. How long did the officer point the weapon at the man? Did the man see the weapon and have a chance to obey the commands if given?
I am a female. When I was 19 and coming home late at night from work, I saw something dash in front of my pickup truck. I slowed because I though it was a dog. It was a girl and a man who (was drunk and/or on drugs but I didn't know that until after he was arrested ) tackled her and was beating her up. She popped up from the ground and jumped into the bed of my truck and bidded me to go. Then I couldn't go because of passing cars. He ran in front and she ran side to side in the bed and I had no idea what was going on. He grabbed the door to open it but I had locked it. He was beating on the window so hard that I thought it would break. I took my gun and pointed it in his face and he melted off my truck. He put his hands up and walked backwards. I took the girl about 3/4 mile away and called the cops.
This was sudden. I am a female and only a piece of glass separated me form this guy. I had no idea about the dynamics but I did know HOW to use a weapon. If he wouldn't have responded and kept coming after me, I would have shot him. But as long as I had control, I gave him the chance to respond. I never said a word.
I wonder if that office could have made his weapon known and if he could have put himself in a safe position and given the man a chance to make a good decision. If he was out of his mind, it may not have worked but I just wonder what opportunity was given to him.
Since, my first use of the gun at age 19, I have used it twice more. Once on a thief burglerizing our home at night. I didn't have to shoot him either but I got every bit of my stuff back and he got arrested. And one time I shot at an intruder. Scared him off. I missed but I only missed because I wanted to.
A gun does get respect. But I think that you have to give the other party enough time to think and react in a good way. I have to wonder why the officer couldn't have secured his own safety and shot once into the ground on either side of him and then pointed the gun at him?
If you keep yourself in a safe position, you have time to evaluate the situation. I think in the situation that I was in that I had less time than this officer did. It was like out of nowhere and right on top of me and I didn't know if he had a weapon. But I could see his hands on my window.
I don't know the dynamics, but it seems a little disproportionate to me. And I have been there in that situation.
Two key differences here:
1. You were in a locked truck--there was a physical boundary there. You also stated that if he breached that physical boundary, you would shoot him.
2. That vehicle also gave you a mobility advantage the campus cup here didn't have.
As far as all your speculation, hopefully it's adequately recorded on the video mentioned in the article so as to confirm or deny your conjecture. First hand knowledge is usually preferable.
Cops are asked to put themselves in harms way--that's part of the service--but that in no way implies that they should put themselves at greater risk than necessary.
Mom herself said "he was obviously not in his right mind." That's not somebody you take chances. Situations that seem less than threatining at first can rapidly escalate into something very bad. In this case, "somebody obviously not in his right mind" failed to comply with repeated requests to stand down.
This is tragic and shouldn't have happend. It must be said, however, that most things can be traced back to a single source and in this case that source is not the cop.
As a parent of teens, one of whom is in college, if this happened to one of my kids, the first question I'd ask is "Why would my kid behave this way?"
sorry-duplicate poste
i have to disagree ... i can't think of a reason an 18 year old college kid that is naked & unarmed should lose his life to a trained police officer ... i was around on the streets when pcp was the drug of choice to put kids into the same state of mind as this 18 year old named gilbert ...