University police officer who shot naked student WAS carrying a baton and pepper spray

The University of Alabama police department have admitted that the officer who shot dead an erratically acting 18-year-old naked student was carrying his baton and pepper spray

Police authorities said that Collar, a 5-foot-7, 140-pound high school wrestler in his first semester of college, was on LSD when he moved aggressively toward the officer in an athletic stance, prompting the shooting

A definitive toxicology report has not been released



It has been revealed that the University of South Alabama campus police officer who fatally shot a naked student was carrying pepper spray and a baton at the time



University spokesman Keith Ayers admitted yesterday that Officer Trevis Austin, was armed with all three weapons when he walked outside the police station with his gun drawn to confront Gil Collar.



The shooting of the 18-year-old college freshman who was naked when he banged on police department windows in the early hours of last Saturday caused national outrage because of the perceived use of excessive force.

Scroll Down for Video



Gunned down: College freshman Gil Collar (left) was shot dead campus police officer, Trevis Austin (right), who was carrying a baton and pepper spray as well as his gun



It's unclear why Austin, a four-year employee in his first police job went for his gun first, but the decision was defended by the campus police as the right course of action.



Authorities said that Collar, a 5-foot-7, 140-pound high school wrestler in his first semester of college, was on LSD when he moved aggressively toward the officer in an athletic stance, prompting the shooting.



But surveillance video shows the student never tried to grab the officer's weapon or got within 4 or 5 feet of Austin.



A copy of the university's weapons policy, released to The Associated Press in response to an open records request, shows an officer's actions in cases where force is necessary should be based on how much a suspect resists.



Loss: Gilbert with his mother Bonnie, who said footage of the killing showed he had not touched the officer Loss: Friends and family, including Collar's mother, right, said that the police officer should have dealt better teenager

Deadly force is justified only when a suspect has the intent, ability and opportunity to kill or injure someone else, the policy states.



The policy says that an officer's attempt to control a situation 'should match (the) level of resistance then move up or down as resistance changes.'



But Ayers declined comment on how the guidelines are interpreted when an officer is confronted by someone who doesn't have a weapon, yet could present a threat.



'The university is withholding further comment at this time as the district attorney and sheriff's office have time to conduct a thorough external review,' he said.



An attorney for Collar's family, former Alabama Lt. Gov. Jere Beasley, said the university's policy 'totally gives support to our position' that the shooting wasn't justified.



'There is no question the required force here was much less than shooting somebody,' he said. 'He could not say his life was in jeopardy or he was in fear of bodily harm.'

Probe: Austin, an officer for four years, has been placed on leave while an investigation continues

Authorities have said a grand jury would review the shooting to determine whether charges should be filed. Such investigations are typical in police shootings in Alabama.



Mobile County Sheriff Sam Cochran has said it was unclear whether the officer could have done anything other than shoot Collar because he walked outside with his gun drawn.



'Had the officer had a Taser or some other less lethal instrument, I do not know if that officer would have had an opportunity to ... holster his pistol and to use something else because the events were evolving so rapidly and he was so close that had he put the pistol in the holster, I don't know that he could have drawn something else,' Cochran told reporters earlier this week.



Cochran said he believed it was proper for the officer to go outside with his gun drawn after Collar repeatedly banged on windows at the campus police station, but he hasn't said whether he thought the shooting was justified.



Authorities haven't said why Austin drew his gun first rather than opting for a less-lethal weapon.



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

Video of the fatal shooting of a naked Alabama college student shows him with his arms outstretched and his palms open seconds before a campus police officer fired.

The Mobile County Sheriff's Department played the approximately two-minute security video for media Thursday. It was taken by a surveillance camera outside the University of South Alabama police station, where 18-year-old Gil Collar was fatally shot early Saturday morning. The video has no sound.

Police said Collar, 18, had taken the drug LSD and was acting aggressively, but an attorney for Collar's family said the video shows his actions didn't justify the shooting. Authorities declined to release a copy of the video.