The state medical examiner’s office released an autopsy report Thursday morning on the death of University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill junior Courtland Smith, who was shot by an Archdale, N.C. police officer Aug. 23.
Smith told a 911 officer that he had a gun and was suicidal, the (Raleigh) News & Observer reported. Smith’s blood-alcohol content was .22 when police pulled him over on Interstate 85 just south of Greensboro. The report also states that Smith had talked to friends about suicidal ideas on the day he died.
The report leaves plenty of questions unanswered about the sudden tragedy, which has had an impact on UNC’s greek community. Smith was the president of Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity at UNC. The News & Observer reported that Smith’s parents told the parents of another fraternity member that no gun was found in his SUV, and the report does not state that Smith was armed on the night he was shot.
Despite requests from the News & Observer and other media organizations, a Randolph County judge refused to release video recordings of the incident that were captured on a police car’s dashboard video camera. The officer involved in the shooting, Jeremy Paul Flinchum, has been placed on leave, pending the completion of an investigation by the State Bureau of Investigation.
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