Student outcry at campus police who shot naked freshman, 18, dead after knocked on police station wi

[Jazzy]

Outcry is growing over the fatal shooting of a naked University of Alabama student by a campus police officer early on Saturday morning.



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.



It has also emerged that the shooting was caught on video.



On the Facebook page for the Vanguard, the school's student newspaper, Collar's friends and classmates expressed shock and confusion that the officer felt the need to use deadly force on a young man they described as 'sweet' and 'easy going.'



'Gil went to my high school' wrote Melissa Mims, who said she was a good friend of Collar's sister Elisabeth and the rest of his family. 'Gil was the kind of guy who could put a smile on anyone's face, he never had any enemies and a lot of students and younger kids looked up to him. He really was a great guy and had very many friends.'



Parker Mozingo only met Collar once but he made a lasting impression.



'He was a sweet guy who did not deserve this. He made one stupid decision last night but the officer that shot him, in my opinion, made a way worse mistake,' she wrote.



'Gil was unarmed, the officer had no right or reason to pull a gun on him. The officer should have thought about what he was doing, I hope that the people see the officer was wrong for what he did.'



Friend Lucas Self described Collar as an easy going person, small enough deadly force should not have been required.



School officials say the student ignored repeated commands to stop. The school says Collar was nude and acting erratically when he confronted the officer.



The officer is on paid leave, and an autopsy will determine if drugs or alcohol were involved.



Authorities said that the officer attempted to retreat several times in an attempt to defuse the situation but that the officer was left with no choice but to shoot when Collar made one final charge.



Full story



Do you think the officer was justified in shooting? Why or why not?

 

[DrLeftover]

I'll wait until the toxicology report comes back before I decide.



His behavior is consistent with somebody on some of the new synthetic designer drugs.

 

[Jazzy]

The guy was obviously not carrying a concealed weapon. Having campus police carry a less lethal weapon such a taser would have been a better choice.

 

[DrLeftover]

You'd think.



But remember, some drugs make the user immune to pepper spray and even a taser.

Tasers not enough to bring down ETX man allegedly high on PCP

http://www.kltv.com/story/16618768/tasers-not-enough-to-bring-down-etx-man-allegedly-high-on-pcp

 

[Jazzy]

Fair enough. Why not shoot to debilitate not kill your attacker?

 

[Fatal Dawn]

The guy was obviously not carrying a concealed weapon. Having campus police carry a less lethal weapon such a taser would have been a better choice.

I agree with you. Even if drugs was the cause, lethal force should have been the last resort.

 

[DrLeftover]

Shooting to wound is bad policy.

 

[DrLeftover]

Investigators have said Collar took the hallucinogenic drug LSD at a Mobile music festival before returning to campus and having a bizarre drug-induced meltdown and pounding on the police station's glass door. Austin came out of the station with his weapon drawn and shot and killed Collar after the one-time high school wrestler continued to advance and refused to follow police commands, authorities have said.



The protesters said they want campus police to carry Tasers and believe the officer should have subdued Collar without killing him.



The kid was 18 and kids that age experiment with stuff like that, said Caroline De Freitas, 34 and a nursing student. We really need a way to deal with that type of crisis without using deadly force.



De Freitas circulated a petition demanding that administrators change the police department's guidelines and supply officers with Tasers.

http://www.sfgate.co...ent-3935006.php

 

[DrLeftover]

If he was on LSD, Pepper spray would have been ineffective. And even a Taser may not have worked as designed.



However, the cop's radio would have worked to call for backup and a sufficient number of officers would have been able to restrain him.

 

[DrLeftover]

That's why I mentioned the cop's radio. That would have been a sure thing.