Richard Collins III
Richard Collins III
Photo of Richard Collins III in his Second lieutenant, United States Army uniform with his father
Richard "Rice" Collins III (1994-May 21, 2017) was a Second lieutenant in the United States Army who aspired to one day become a General. He was also a business student at Bowie State University near Bowie, Maryland. He was known by friends and family as a vibrant, funny and outgoing person who was a natural born leader. [1]
Personal Life
Richard Collins III (1994-May was originally from Chesapeake, Virginia but later moved to Owings, Maryland to attend Bowie State University. Richard was an adventurous person and talked about wanting to travel the world and go skydiving and surfing [1]. Richard was a fan of the show Breaking Bad and even posted a photo of himself dressed as Walter White (Breaking Bad). He was also a fan of Anime posting photos of Naruto and Yu-Gi-Oh! characters on his Facebook profile.
Education
Photo of Collins in his US Army fatigues
Richard Collins III was part of the Army Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) program. On May 18, 2017 he was commissioned as a Second lieutenant in the United States Army. He was also going to graduate from Bowie State University with a business degree on May 21, 2017. Richard had received his airborne certification and planned to work in Army Intelligence within the US Army. Richard was following in his father's footsteps as his father was a US military veteran. [1]
Prior to joining the ROTC program Richard worked as a Groundskeeper at Chesapeake Hills Golf Club in Chesapeake, Virginia. He also once worked at Walmart.
Death
Mugshot of Sean Urbanski, who murdered Richard
On May 21, 2017 Richard Collins III was murdered in a hate crime by Sean Urbanski, a white supremacist who was part of the Alt-Reich Nation Facebook group. The attack happened while Richard and two friends were waiting for an Uber ride outside Montgomery Hall outside the Montgomery Hall dormitory on Regents Drive near U.S. 1 at about 3 a.m. Saturday when he was attacked.
The stabbing was captured by a surveillance camera, police said.
They called it unprovoked.
Witnesses said the Urbanksi was intoxicated and incoherent at the time of the attack, police said.
Police have said the victim and suspect did not know each other.
Officers called to the scene found Collins wounded on the sidewalk, police said.
He was taken to a hospital, where he died.
Urbanski was arrested at the scene, police said.
Officers recovered a folding knife, police said.
Collins' friends told police they heard the suspect scream as he approached them.
Sean Urabnksi said "Step left, step left if you know what's best for you," and stabbed Collins in the chest when he responded "no."[1]
Police said initially there was no indication that race played a role.
But University Police Chief David Mitchell said information about the Facebook group was brought to their attention on Sunday.
The group, called "Alt-Reich Nation," contained racist posts, he said.
"When I look at the information that's contained on that website, suffice it to say that it's despicable, it shows extreme bias against women, Latinos, persons of Jewish faith and especially African-Americans," Mitchell said.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) digital forensics team will look for information online that sheds light on the case, Mitchell said. The suspect has not told police any motive, he said. [1]
Gordon Johnson, an agent in the FBI's Baltimore field office, said his office assists in hate crime investigations.
He called Collins a "national treasure," and said people should remember the victim and his family.
"This is a terribly, terribly dark time for them, and we can't forget about that," Johnson said.
University of Maryland President Wallace Loh opened the graduation ceremony at the Xfinity Center Sunday with a moment of silence. [1]
"On behalf of our entire community, I want to express our profound sorrow and anguish, for this horrific tragedy," he said.
He called the killing "a senseless and unprovoked assault," and asked the audience to stand "to express our profound sorrow and anguish, for this horrific tragedy."
"We are still in shock that a young man, so full of promise, should have his life cut short, so suddenly," he said.
"Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends, and with the entire Bowie State University community."