Sheriff's Office: Collar Was On Drugs, Attacked People Prior to Shooting

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Reported by: Local 15 News Staff

Email: local15@local15tv.com

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Published: 10/09/2012 1:11 pm

Updated: 10/09/2012 7:36 pm

(MOBILE, Ala.) - New information released today after the Mobile County Sheriff's Office held a conference regarding the investigation of the shooting death of University of South Alabama freshman Gil Collar.

Investigators say Collar was under the influence of LSD and had attacked a couple of people prior to his violent encounter with a USA campus police officer.

The officer involved in the shooting has been identified as Trevis Austin. Authorities tell Local 15 he's been with the USA Police Department for 4 years.

Sheriff's investigators say Collar was at BayFest when they believe he ingested the LSD.

They say after that, he returned to his dorm, stripped off all of his clothes, then went up to a couple of different cars and actually assaulted people inside. Authorities say one female victim reported Collar tried to bite her arm.

The investigators on the case say Collar then went to the USA Campus Police Department and began banging on the window.

The Mobile County Sheriff's Office plans to release video showing the incident - first showing it to Collar's family - then likely it will be released to the media Thursday.

Sheriff Sam Cochran says he had some doubts about the story, but when he saw the video it became more evident how this all happened.

The video will only be shown to members of the media, it will not be broadcast to the public.

The shooting happened just out of the view of the camera.

The Mobile County Sheriff's Office is looking into who gave Collar the LSD and murder charges could be brought on to those persons if they are charged.

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msangie3311 - 10/10/2012 3:11 PM

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this is for shark bait , I work at the school where he went too and he didn't have the body of a muscular person, I saw here everyday , and yes a wrestler can be skinny

msangie3311 - 10/10/2012 3:09 PM

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there are so many young people on drugs today , who knows maybe someone slipped him the drug in his drink and he wasn't aware of it, or maybe he was, my point is taking drugs doesn't constitute losing your life, there are so many people in this country trigger happy, there were other ways to subdue this 18 year old

Mayhem Man - 10/9/2012 5:14 PM

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As I first suspected drugs led to this tragedy. The Police Officer did as he was trained to do, stop the threatening individual. This person has already assaulted a woman and attempted to bite her, and his next stop was the Police building. I see this as a justified killing, not a happy ending for anyone involved. The officer will spend the rest of his life second guessing his decision and wondering what he could have done differently. He may even decide to leave law enforcement all together. What we now know is that whoever gave or sold this guy the drugs is an accessory to murder and I hope they find the horrible person that he got it from. All you clowns saying that the Officer should have simply wounded the crazed man would be crying the loudest if he took the Officer's gun and went on a killing spree with the Officer's gun after wrestling the gun away from the Officer and shot him. STOP making the Officer out to be a bad cop, he never initiated the situation in the first place and was only doing his job that I'm sure pays very little. Nothing can be said and done to put the genie back in the bottle now and it's time to move on. I feel sorrow for the family and friends of the deceased and offer them my sincere condolences for their unexpected tragic loss. Let this be a clear and decisive lesson to all young folks and even the older ones that do drugs and have posted mugshots on the Metro jail log each day.... DRUGS KILL!!!

Heimdal - 10/9/2012 4:47 PM

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So, the University of South Alabama police are so inept that they can't subdue and handcuff an unarmed college freshman? ... Maybe they need to implement some physical fitness standards so deadly force won't have to be such a convenient alternative to them actually breaking a sweat... The fact they waited so long to ID the 'officer' involved in this senseless killing speaks volumes too... This loss of life could have been avoided, and it SHOULD have been.

flamekiller - 10/9/2012 4:10 PM

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Just like many comments posted, mabe a taser could have been the best first choice. We are living in a watered down society where people don't think they have to do what they are told, when an officer pulls his service weapon tells you to stop, the next choice is he stops you. Officers are not trained to wound, they are trained to stop the threat, period. If you don't stop, that's your choice.

ruger22com - 10/9/2012 3:59 PM

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I too am a gun owner and carry my kimber .45 everywhere I go (I have a ccw permit), and I ALSO have a history of treating people under drugs. First, they may have told this kid it was LSD he was taking, but I'd bet it was actually PCP which makes you much more aggresive and has many of the same effects as acid. Also, if a kid is high on PCP, especially a "musclular wrestler" he can have the strength of a gorella and in that case, a tazer or pepper spray would not do a thing. I have seen small kids high on PCP take of 5 BIG police officers. So if it had been me? and he attacked me and I had no backup? I would have not hesitated and shot him in the chest. (Main body mass....the ONLY place you shoot someone in the leg is on TV as any cop will tell you) I feel a great deal of sympathy for the kids folks, but also for the officer who was put in this situation and now will suffer the public reactions.

proudALMomof2 - 10/9/2012 3:06 PM

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Wow....people are so quick to judge our law enforcement. Those same people would be the first to complain if law enforcement did something less and someone else was hurt.

bangithard - 10/9/2012 2:22 PM

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I'm a gun owner with a permit to carry, so I certainly believe in the right to protection. However, I would never, never, shoot to kill an unarmed, naked person obviously under the influence of alcohol or drugs. The officer could have retreated into his building and called for backup. He could have fired a warning shot into the ground. He could have shot low to wound. He could have done anything but shoot to kill as his first response. No matter how this get spinned, he was wrong.

sharkbait21m - 10/9/2012 2:17 PM

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First off, he wouldnt have felt a taser or pepper spray on LSD, they would have been completely ineffective and the pepper spray would have made the environment even more challenging for the officers who had to inhale it too. Second, the kid wasn't 135 lbs, he was muscular with 6 years of wrestling under his belt. Do you really think someone who wrestled for six years would be skinny? He tried to EAT someone's arm while being punched by her boyfriend... would you have preferred another incident like the one in Miami instead?

sharkbait21m - 10/9/2012 2:14 PM

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First off, he wouldnt have felt a taser or pepper spray. Second, the kid wasn't 135 lbs, he was muscular with 6 years of wrestling under his belt. Do you really think someone who wrestled for six years would be skinny?

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