Parent’s Stunned by Son’s Death

The president of a University of North Carolina fraternity was shot and killed by a police officer along Interstate 40 last weekend, leaving his friends and family with no explanation of why he was driving at 5 a.m., where he was going, or why he was threatening suicide to a dispatcher during a 911 call. Courtland Smith, 21, died after a Archdale police officer fired four times as they stood along the highway. Friends say Smith was in no distress when they saw him at the fraternity house at 2 a.m. But Guilford Metro 911 officials released a logging tape of the 911 call made about three hours later with Smith sounding drunk, and telling the dispatcher, “I’m trying to kill myself on I-40.” He refused to pull over, and at one point flirted with the dispatcher and tried to find out where she was located. Towards the end of the 15-minute call, he said officers were following him, and he apparently pulled over. The sounds of an officer can be heard on the 911 call tape, along with someone saying, “I’ve got to pull something out.” The shooting occurred after the called ended. Police have not confirmed if Smith actually was carrying a firearm. Read more about the incident here, and listen to the logging tape here.