(MOBILE, Ala.) A judge has dismissed the lawsuit against the University of South Alabama in connection with the Gil Collar shooting case. Collar was shot dead outside the campus police station in October after charging Officer Trevis Austin.
"The judge took it under submission, considered our arguments and dismissed the case against South Alabama," said USA Attorney David Strassburg.
The judge threw out the case against the school because as a public university, USA is technically considered part of the state. The state has sovereign immunity from being sued.
"State immunity is a difficult issue," said Collar family attorney Ben Locklar, "and it's not very clear, actually."
The same judge ruled a lawsuit against University Police Chief Zeke Aull can proceed. The Collar family says he's responsible for not properly training his officers.
"When they went to orientation they were told, we're going to take care of your son," said Locklar. "It's an unfortunate situation, but what's important to them is that this doesn't happen again."
The family wants to see all campus officers armed with tasers.
If the family wants to continue its case against the school, their next option is to sue individual members of the Board of Trustees. Their attorney says that's a decision they haven't made yet.
"We're not really in a position to tell you what our next step's going to be, we're just going to keep moving forward," he said.
A separate case against Officer Trevis Austin is also moving forward.
