'Security video shows my 5ft 7, 135lbs son never touched the officer who killed him,' claims mother of slain Alabama student shot while naked

• Bonnie Smith Collar says she has received conflicting information about what happened just before her son was killed
• Acquaintances who saw him believe the slightly built freshman was intoxicated
  
• Friends say the officer had no right to pull a gun on him
• Lawyers for the Collar family say their review of the shooting will include whether the officer followed department rules and regulations

By Daily Mail Reporter

Published: 21:51 EDT, 8 October 2012 | Updated: 02:51 EDT, 9 October 2012

The mother of the naked, unarmed college student fatally shot by a campus police officer on Saturday says that surveillance video will show her 5ft 7, 135lbs son never came into physical contact with the officer.

Bonnie Smith Collar, has said she has received conflicting information about what happened prior to her son Gil Collar, 18, being shot. She has asked people to withhold judgment until all the evidence comes out.

Acquaintances have said that slightly built Collar appeared to be intoxicated, because of alcohol or something else, as he took his clothes off, ran through the streets, screamed obscenities and claimed he was on a 'spiritual quest' in the moments before he was killed.

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Gone: Gilbert Thomas Collar, right, with his mother Bonnie Smith Collar - the 18-year-old student was shot dead while naked and physically threatening a University of South Alabama police officer on Saturday

Slightly built freshman: Collar was not exactly an imposing presence standing 5ft 7inches tall and weighing 135 pounds

'Whatever caused the incident was something that made him act not in his normal personality,' she said.

School officials with access to the security video footage have said nothing to indicate that Collar was armed. And they have refused to say whether the officer who shot Collar was carrying a baton and pepper spray, both of which campus officers typically have with them.

An attorney for the family, former Alabama Lt. Gov. Jere Beasley, said his firm's review of the shooting would include whether the officer followed department rules and regulations.

The university said the officer heard a bang on a window at campus police headquarters and went outside to investigate. The officer tried to retreat numerous times to defuse the situation before opening fire, the university said in a news release.

The case has been handed over to Mobile County authorities and could take weeks to resolve. Meanwhile, friends and relatives are trying to figure out what could have happened to the quiet kid who showed so much promise.

Collar grew up in the rural outskirts of Wetumpka, about 20 miles north of Montgomery. Brandon Ross, a sophomore at Jacksonville State University, said Collar moved to the neighborhood as an eight-year-old.

'I was the first person he met on the bus, and we've been friends ever since,' he said. 'He was the kid everybody liked.'

'It's completely opposite of the way he was,' said South Alabama student Chandler Wescovich of Long Beach, Miss., who became friends with Collar during his short time on campus.

Others agreed the actions were out of character for the normally quiet and reserved Collar, whom friends described as a popular and good-looking high school wrestler who stood 5-foot-7 and 135 pounds. Collar wasn't someone to make enemies and even befriended his wrestling opponents, said his high school wrestling coach, Jeff Glass.

Collar wasn't known as a troublemaker and had only two minor scrapes with the law, according to court records: a speeding ticket and a citation for being a minor in possession of three cigarettes in March. He paid a $25 fine for the tobacco possession.

He was also so good-looking that his teammates didn't like standing next to him in team photos.

'The girls thought he was the best thing they had ever seen, and they may have been right,' Glass said.

Family: Collar is pictured with his older sister Doris Elisabeth Collar in this undated family photo

Grown Up: Collar's family is struggling to understand the events that lead to his death. He is pictured with his older sister in an undated family photo

Wescovich said everything seemed normal when he saw Collar with friends in a student dining hall less than six hours before the shooting. Wescovich said he and others gave Collar a ticket to BayFest, an outdoor music festival in Mobile, and went on their separate way.

Hours later on campus, Collar was out of sorts and appeared intoxicated from alcohol or something else, according to two acquaintances who saw him. He was screaming profanities in the street and running around naked, said South Alabama student Bronte Harber, 18, of Columbus, Ohio.

Sarah Hay, 18, of Dallas, said she saw Collar shirtless outside her on-campus residence shortly before Harber encountered him. Collar was the loudest of a group of four or five young men, she said, and some of the others were trying to get him to calm down.

'He was talking about being on a spiritual quest,' said Hay, but wasn't making any sense. Hay, who described herself as an acquaintance of Collar, said he was removing his pants as she walked back inside.

Neither Harber nor Hay said they witnessed the confrontation between Collar and the officer.

A candlelight vigil is planned for 6 p.m. Tuesday at Wetumpka High School. Collar's mother said funeral arrangements have not yet been made yet.

Mrs Collar said she had no idea why her son would be acting erratically as described and that the slight yet strong boy had never posed a threat before.

'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.'

On the Facebook page for the Vanguard, the school's student newspaper, Collar's friends and classmates similarly 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.'

Gilbert Thomas Collar, right, with his mother Bonnie Smith Collar - the 18-year-old student was shot dead while naked and physically threatening a University of South Alabama police officer on Saturday

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

'Gil made a mistake but it is still an officers duty to resolve a situation as peacefully as he can' Self wrote. 'I think this situation was handled wrong by the officer but they aren't going to let any one believe that.'

Friend Colgan Meanor says Collar of Wetumpka was an outgoing athlete who loved wrestling in high school.

She says she's shocked over his killing by an officer outside the university police department early Saturday.

Another friend of Collar's, Tyler Kendrick, says the officer shouldn't have drawn his weapon on an unarmed person.

Popular student: Gil Collar, 18, was shot dead by Campus police at the University of South Alabama. The 18-year-old was a high school wrestler at his home in Wetumpka, Alabama and had only recently enrolled

University of South Alabama campus, where Gilbert Thomas Collar was shot dead in the early hours of this morning

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