COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) – Prosecutors are asking for patience as they investigate as a possible hate crime the stabbing of black Army officer, allegedly by a white University of Maryland student.
The stabbing of Richard Collins III is being investigated by police and the FBI. Police say the suspect, Sean Urbanski, became a member of a racist Facebook group several months ago.
Collins’ classmates at Bowie State organized held a vigil in his memory on Monday night.
Authorities say Urbanski, who was denied bond Monday at his first court hearing, was intoxicated during the slaying early Saturday, and that police are awaiting results of drug tests.
Collins, who was visiting friends at the College Park campus, had just been commissioned as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army and would have graduated Tuesday from Bowie State.