Authorities investigating death of MSU student

Published 8:38 pm Saturday, May 2, 2009

A coroner says an 18-year-old Mississippi State University student who collapsed in a campus residence hall died of cardiac arrest.

Oktibbeha County Coroner Michael Hunt said Matthew Gatewood was transported to Oktibbeha County Hospital Thursday and pronounced dead in the emergency room.

A news release from the university said Gatewood was a freshman civil engineering major from Clinton.

Bill Kibler, vice president for student affairs, called the death is “a great tragedy for a very promising young man.”

Gatewood maintained a perfect grade point average while at Mississippi State.