( CNN ) -- Authorities in Mobile , Alabama , are investigating why a University of South Alabama police officer shot and killed an 18-year-old freshman who they say was naked and acting erratically outside the campus police station early Saturday . The campus officer heard a loud banging noise on a window at the station at 1:23 a.m. CT ( 2:23 a.m . ET ) Saturday , the university said in a statement . When he left the station to investigate , the school said , `` he was confronted by a muscular , nude man who was acting erratically . '' The man , later identified as Gilbert Thomas Collar , of Wetumpka , Alabama , repeatedly rushed and verbally challenged the officer in a fighting stance , the school said . The officer , whose name has n't been released , drew his weapon and ordered Collar to stop , the school said . The officer retreated several times to try to calm the situation . `` When the individual continued to rush toward the officer in a threatening manner and ignored the officer 's repeated commands to stop , the officer fired one shot with his police sidearm , which struck the chest of the assailant , '' the school statement said . `` The individual fell to the ground , but he got up once more and continued to challenge the officer further before collapsing and expiring . '' Campus police immediately contacted the district attorney 's office to request an external investigation , and the Mobile County Sheriff 's Department will assist , the school said . The officer has been placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of internal and external investigations , the school said . School spokesman Keith Ayers called it a `` campus tragedy '' for the university family but offered no other details , citing the active investigation . The University of South Alabama , located in Mobile , enrolls about 15,000 students . Wetumpka , located just north of Montgomery in the middle of the state , has nearly 8,000 residents .
The University of South Alabama says the student was acting erratically . The school says the student charged the officer , who drew his gun . A police department in Texas is investigating a video that shows an officer shooting and killing a man after he allegedly attacked him with a baseball bat.