According to WALA-TV, officials at the University of South Alabama
said 18-year-old Gilbert Collar approached the campus police station
naked and banged on the door, challenging the unidentified officer who
answered to a fight.

“The man repeatedly rushed, and verbally challenged, the officer in a
fighting stance,” said university spokesperson Keith Ayers. “The
officer, with weapon drawn, ordered the individual to halt. The
officer retreated numerous times in an attempt to calm the situation.”

When Collar continued to rush the officer, Ayers said, the officer
shot him once in the chest.

Collar fell to the ground, but got up one more time and challenged him
again before dying.

Ayers confirmed that the officer’s report made no mention of Collar
being armed, and that security cameras around the building recorded
the incident, but offered no further details. The officer, he said,
has been placed on administrative leave.

The Alabama Media Group reported that the Mobile County Sheriff’s
Office and the local District Attorney’s office will investigate of
the shooting.

Collar’s mother, Bonnie, told CNN that when she was notified of his
death, no one told her he was trying to attack someone before being
shot.

“The first thing on my mind is, freshman kids do stupid things,” she
said. “Campus police should be equipped to handle activity like that
without having to use lethal force.”

Some of Collar’s fellow students echoed his mother’s criticism despite
officials’ attempts to explain the situation.

“A cop has more than a gun,” one student told WALA. “He could have
pulled out a taser, pepper spray, nightstick, anything like that. So
why was his gun drawn at this kid, who was probably drunk or something
like that? It just feels like it could have been handled in a better
way.”