UNC-CH DKE president shot, killed by police
 

http://www.newsobserver.com/news/story/1660146.html

UNC student shot, killed by police



FROM STAFF REPORTS
Published: Mon, Aug. 24, 2009 09:38AM

Modified Mon, Aug. 24, 2009 09:49AM






CHAPEL HILL -- A 20-year-old man shot by police in Randolph County Sunday morning has been identified as Courtland Smith, a junior biology major and fraternity president at UNC Chapel Hill from Texas, The Daily Tar Heel reports.

Smith was pronounced dead at 6:03 a.m. after being admitted to High Point Regional Hospital, according to the campus newspaper.
Smith, president of the UNC chapter of the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity, reportedly was shot and killed by an Archdale police officer after a confrontation on Interstate 85 in Randolph County.


The Archdale Police Department released a statement that says officers made a traffic stop on the interstate about 4:54 a.m. Sunday after getting a call from a man who said he was suicidal.





"Once the vehicle came to a stop, a confrontation ensued and an Archdale Police Officer shot the subject," the statement said. The release did not say whether the man, identified only as white and his his early 20s, had a weapon.

The Police Department has not released the name of the man who was shot. The N.C. State Bureau of Investigation is reviewing the incident.
In a statement, UNC-CH officials acknowledged learning of the death of the student but said they had no additional details.

This is so sad! He graduated from my older son's highschool, great student, outgoing kid, was a big wrestler - ranked in the city, just a really great guy.

I got an email from the school requesting prayers for the family, his little brother just graduated in May. I cannot imagine what they are going through today - he seemingly had everything going for him, and to have this happen. It's unbelievably tragic.:(

My sincerest sympathy for the family, brothers, and friends of Courtland Smith. Such a tragic loss for all involved.

This is so tragic. I am sending up prayers for his family and friends.

It's absolutely awful. I picked up a copy of the Daily Tar Heel today, and to read such tragic news the day before classes start is heartbreaking.

I was stopped by an NBC reporter today on campus asking if I knew him (I didn't).

My thoughts go out to Courtland Smith's family and his DKE brothers.

ETA: Apparently the officer who shot him is Jeremy Paul Flinchum.

From the Daily Tar Heel website:

The State Bureau of Investigation has identified the officer who shot junior Courtland Smith on Sunday as Jeremy Paul Flinchum.
Flinchum’s status with the police department is unknown.
Flinchum, 29, stopped Smith’s car on Interstate 85 in Archdale, about 15 miles south of Greensboro. Flinchum was responding to a 911 call from Smith, who told dispatchers that he was suicidal and needed help.
A press release Sunday from Archdale Police said the officer shot Smith after a confrontation.

Suicide by cop?

What a tragic story. Deepest sympathies to all who will miss Courtland.

Which reminds me that I wanted to post that my sympathies go out not just to Courtland Smith and his family/brothers/friends, but also to the officer and his family. Life will never be the same on either side, and there are certainly no winners, regardless of the circumstances.

More recent stories from the Raleigh News and Observer, The Daily Tar Heel and the Greensboro News and Record.

I particularly liked the end of the Daily Tar Heel story:

Several campus Greek organizations put off rush events Monday night and will decide later this week about other plans to remember Smith. Some are doing small favors such as donating flowers or cooking dinner for his fraternity.

“Rush is the least of our worries,” said sophomore William White, a member of Phi Gamma Delta fraternity. “We’re more worried about our friends next door and being there for them.”

This whole event is so sad. I like that they stopped rush events. What great greek unity.

THIS IS EXTREMELY SAD TO HEAR THIS HAPPEN TO SUCH A FINE YOUNG MAN. MY PRAYERS GO OUT TO THE SMITH FAMILY AND TO THE BROTHERS OF DELTA KAPPA EPSILON.

ZBT:"Honoring the Past, Celebrating the Present & Impacting the Future."

Very tragic indeed. :(

A short update from the Raleigh News and Observer and a tribute/update from The Daily Tar Heel.

ETA: Here is a longer update with a longer description of the 911 call from the Greensboro News and Record. Sad.

How awful. Prayers for everyone involved and their families/friends- what a sad situation.

Today the Raleigh News and Observer has another article, which includes a little about the mourning, more about the investigation and a link to the 911 call. Ditto with this story about the memorial service and this story about the investigation and the 911 call from The Daily Tar Heel.

I haven't been able to listen to the 911 call -- not sure I want to.

Another story I have read says there was a video camera in the police car which vidoed the encounter.

I think so.

An an extremely sad and unfortunate situation. I will continue to pray for all those involved. I look forward to hearing more about the investigation into the shooting and what exactly transpired.

Udate to the tragedy at UNC -CH

http://www.newsobserver.com/news/loc...ry/143791.html

Bumping for another update, this time a positive one.

From the 1-23-11 News & Observer of Raleigh:

Playground captures spirit of UNC fraternity leader

CHAPEL HILL -- In a bright metal collection of slides and swings and monkey bars, Courtland Benjamin Smith's legacy is reborn.

Here, he is, and will be, the young man so beloved that his friends and family built, in his memory, a playground for strangers' kids in an affordable housing community near Interstate 40 in Chapel Hill.

"This is really who he was," said Frank Driscoll, Smith's friend and fraternity brother at Delta Kappa Epsilon at UNC-Chapel Hill. "This is the way we want him remembered."

. . .


During a ceremony Saturday morning, no one spoke of his final hours. More than 75 people huddled in the frigid cold and talked of the playful young man who loved children so much he meant to spend his career as a doctor treating those with heart troubles. They cut a ribbon, and fraternity brothers played with the first few dozen children who will spend their childhoods in Phoenix Place, an affordable housing community that Habitat for Humanity will enlarge to 50 homes in the coming years.

Smith's death jarred the community, and his loss consumed the fraternity that Smith led as president the year of his death. Grief can be an unwieldy burden, and for a group of 18- to 22-year-old men, it was nearly paralyzing. To cope, they got busy. They raised money to build a Habitat for Humanity House in Smith's memory.

Last winter and spring, Smith's fraternity brothers rolled out of bed on cold Saturday mornings and reported to a concrete slab that they were supposed to turn into a home. They picked up hammers and nails and banged for hours. They met the children, refugees from Burma, who would grow up there. They told stories about Smith and, in some moments, found a way to smile or to laugh. . . .

what a lovely thing to do! good on them!