Richard Wilbur Collins III, age 23, of Owings, MD, was waiting with two friends for an Uber. The trio was near Montgomery Hall dormitory on the University Of Maryland-College Park campus early Saturday when Sean Christopher Urbanski, age 22, approached. Urbanski was screaming at Collins to step left if he knew what was best for him. Collins said “no.” Urbanski kept approaching, then, stabbed him in the chest with a folding knife.
One of Collins’ friends called 911. When officers arrived, they found Collins seriously wounded on the sidewalk. After he was taken to a hospital, he died.
Police say stabbing was unprovoked
A surveillance camera captured the stabbing, according to police, who called the attack unprovoked. They also said that Collins and Urbanski did not know one another. Witnesses told police that the suspect was incoherent and intoxicated.
After the suspect fled, he was stopped and arrested by Prince George County police officers. He was identified as the attacker by several witnesses, including the victim’s friends. Police also recovered a folding knife from Urbanski’s front pocket.
University of Maryland student charged for the stabbing attack
Urbanski, a University of Maryland student, is charged with first-degree assault for the stabbing, along with first and second-degree murder.
He is from Severna Park, MD.
Initially, police believed that it was a random attack and that race didn’t play a role, noting that the victim is black and the suspect is white. After finding out that the suspect has ties to the racially charged Alt-Reich Nation Facebook group, Police Chief David Mitchell, University of Maryland, called the FBI to determine if Collins’ death was a hate crime.
The victim was commissioned last week as a second lieutenant in the Army’s intelligence branch, was a member of his campus’ ROTC, and was airborne certified, according to the pastor at Calvert County Baptist Church, Rev. Darryl L. Godlock. Collins was a senior at Bowie State University and Tuesday would have been his graduation.
He was visiting friends at the University of Maryland when he was attacked and stabbed.
Godlock, serving as a spokesman for the victim’s family, said Collins’ parents are devastated as their son’s life was taken senselessly.
Student suspect’s record reflects no priors
There are approximately 12 miles between Bowie State University and University of Maryland, which the suspect attended. According to the police, Urbanski has no prior record or problems at the University.
William C. Brennan, a Maryland attorney retained to represent the suspect, declined to comment. His client is being held without bond until a hearing set for today.
Darrian Johnson and Urbanski were high school classmates in Anne Arundel County.
Johnson said the suspect was not violent in school, that he was neither popular nor an outcast, and that he had a lot of friends in the small community. He also doesn’t know what motivated his former classmate to allegedly attack Collins.
