Sean Christopher Urbanski is being held on a murder charge in the stabbing death of 23-year-old Richard Collins III

FBI Probes Possible Hate Crime in Stabbing of Black College Student Set to Join Army After Graduation

The FBI is investigating the stabbing death this weekend of a black college student — and deciding whether the 23-year-old’s killing was a hate crime.

Richard Collins III was scheduled to graduate from Maryland’s Bowie State University, and he had been commissioned as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army.

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According to police, Collins was visiting two other students on the University of Maryland’s campus and was stabbed about 3 a.m. Saturday while they were waiting for an Uber outside a dorm.

Cops say that his attack was unprovoked and captured by surveillance camera.

Authorities arrested Sean Christoper Urbanski, a white 22-year-old student at the University of Maryland, and charged him with first-degree murder.

At a news conference, the chief of the university police said that Urbanski is a member of a racist Facebook group, Fox 32 reports. He allegedly shouted at Collins’ group before allegedly attacking him, according to the Baltimore Sun.

“Step left, step left if you know what’s best for you,” Urbanski allegedly said right before the stabbing, the Sun reports.

Image zoom Sean Christopher Urbanski University of Maryland Police Department/AP

According to police, witnesses described Urbanski as “intoxicated” and “incoherent” at the time of the stabbing. He was arrested at the scene, and officers recovered a folding knife, police said. The FBI is assisting the investigation.

Urbanski is being held without bond and has not entered a plea, and it is unclear if he has retained an attorney.

A spokesman for the Collins family said that the young man wanted to follow in the footsteps of his military veteran father.

“He wanted to make his parents proud of him, so he went into the military to serve his country,” Rev. Darryl L. Godlock told the Sun. “It was a great opportunity for him to advance forward and make the most out of his career.”

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Godock added that Collins had a bright future ahead of him.

“This was not a thug,” he said. “This was a very caring individual. He was highly intelligent and he was at the peak of his career. He loved his family, he loved people that he came in contact with, and more importantly he loved his God.”

In a statement, Bowie State University’s vice president of student affairs mourned Collins’ loss.