MOBILE, Ala. — A police officer at the University of South Alabama has fatally shot a naked student whom authorities said repeatedly charged the officer.

University officials said the confrontation happened early Saturday morning when the officer went outside a police station to investigate a banging noise at a window.

Once outside, the officer was confronted by a naked man acting erratically.

Authorities said the man repeatedly charged the officer, who pulled his gun and retreated several times in an attempt to defuse the situation. When the man made a final charge, the officer shot him once in the chest.

The student has been identified as 18-year-old Gilbert Thomas Collar of Wetumpka.

Local prosecutors are investigating the shooting. The officer who fired the shot has been placed on paid administrative leave.

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