Courtland Smith, a 20-year-old college student from UNC Chapel Hill was shot and killed by police on Interstate 85 in Randolph County on Sunday morning.
The junior biology major and president of Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity was stopped at 4:54 a.m. Sunday after he phoned police from his car to say that he was suicidal.
Two police officers responded to the 911 call. According to Archdale Police Captain Shannon Craddock, Officer Jeremy Paul Flinchum, 29, shot Smith. On the force since April 2008, he has been placed on paid administrative leave pending a full investigation. The unnamed officer who accompanied him to the scene has also been placed on leave.
Shortly after the two officers made the traffic stop, a confrontation ensued, causing Flinchum to shoot Smith. No word on whether the victim was armed or had threatened the officers prior to his death.
Smith, a Houston native, was transported to High Point Regional Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 6:03 a.m.