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There were multiple revelations today into the October 2012 shooting death of a University of South Alabama student.
Mobile County District Attorney Ashley Rich announced at a press conference this morning that University of South Alabama Police Officer Trevis Austin had been cleared of all wrongdoing in the fatal shooting of Gil Collar, but that wasn’t the only news she had.
Since the shooting on Oct. 6, 2012, it had been reported by police officials that witnesses said Collar was high on LSD he purchased at BayFest when he returned to campus, stripped naked, assaulted people in passing cars on campus and then confronted Austin at the USA police headquarters.
It turns out that Collar was not on LSD nor did he even go to BayFest that night.
"Gil Collar was not on LSD that night and he did not go to BayFest. He was on 25I, a research chemical,” Rich said. "He and a group of friends were waiting on two other friends to arrive from Birmingham and they didn’t get to Mobile until 9 or 9:30 that night. They decided not to go to BayFest because it was almost over.”
The two friends from Birmingham, however, had nine hits of 25I they bought online, Rich said.
Everyone in the group took two hits including Collar, but Rich said it affected him differently and it showed in his actions.
"Gil Collar broke away from his friends, who were trying to make him stay,” she said. "After that, he approached a car on Stadium Drive. At this point he was naked and screaming things like ‘I’m God. You’re Judas.’”
Collar was yelling at the people in the first car who tried to drive away, but he held on to the interior of the car. Finally he fell and the car drove away, Rich said.
Rich said a second car stopped to see if he was OK. He got up and started screaming at them. He then climbed inside the car through the driver’s side window. During this, he bit the female driver. The passenger, a former USA football player, punched Collar repeatedly in the face.
"Gil was being punched in the face by a former football player and it wasn’t affecting him at all,” Rich said. "He actually got into the car and sat in the backseat.”
Collar remained there even after the passenger and driver got out of the car. He finally got out of the vehicle. That’s when he headed to the police station.
Rich said the toxicology report, which had to be done in Colorado because of the rarity of the chemical, showed Collar had never taken the substance before. She said it was a tragic event that caused the death of a promising college freshman.
"The focus of this Gil Collar was an outstanding young man. I’ve received letters from everyone telling me how outstanding he is,” she said. "That’s why this is so shocking. The events before his death were not in his character.”
Because 25I is a research chemical, it is technically not a controlled substance. This means the two Birmingham men cannot be charged for giving Collar the chemical, Rich said.
"I would love to charge those two men from Birmingham for providing Gil Collar with the substance, but I can’t,” she said. "It’s not illegal.”
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