(MOBILE, Ala.) - A student who met Gil Collar a half hour before he was killed by campus police said the USA freshman was extremely friendly but visibly “impaired” and shirtless.
“We walked out of the dorm and he was outside with three friends,” freshman Sarah Hay said. “He walked up, introduced himself, and wanted us to talk to him.”
Hay said they struck up conversation, but Gil’s behavior became increasingly bizarre and erratic.
“We hung around a little bit because we thought it was funny,” Hay said. “Then he said, ‘You know, I’m going on this spiritual journey.’ He seemed very passionate about it.”
Hay said Gil began shoving his friends, and she chose to go back inside.
“Me and my friend, we were like, okay, maybe this isn’t the best situation,” Hay said.
Bronte Harber, who lives in the same dorm as Hay, said she looked out her window about ten minutes later when she heard shouting.
“[Gil] was nude and was running in the middle of the street screaming vulgar stuff,” Harber said. “I couldn’t see any of his friends anymore. No one was around besides Gil.”
Harber, who personally knew Gil, said he disappeared across the street towards the police station.
“I was thinking that a cop was going to pull up and he was going to be arrested,” Harber said. “I was hoping he was going to be alright.”
Just thirty minutes later, Harber and Hay received campus e-mails notifying that a student had been killed by campus police. Both immediately knew it had to be Gil.
“I just had this awful feeling,” Hay said. “I really think it’s the guy we just met.”
Harber and close friends of Gil Collar said he usually very laid back and mellow, not anything like how he was acting early Saturday morning.
Toxicology results are still pending, and could take weeks or even months.
