Correction: This article has been revised to correct an error that misidentified Aubry Carmody's gender. Carmody is male.
Courtland Benjamin Smith, the junior biology major from Houston who was shot dead by police Sunday, will be remembered today with a memorial in Chapel Hill.
The memorial service will be held at 1 p.m. at The Chapel of the Cross on Franklin Street. A reception will follow at the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity house, where Smith was president.
Fraternities at UNC have canceled all large-scale events through Thursday evening out of respect.
Smith was a passionate whitewater kayaker, which he did as a camper and counselor at Camp Mondamin in western North Carolina.
“Courtland has been my camp counselor at Camp Mondamin for the past two years,” stated Adam Ellender, 14, in an e-mail. “Last year Courtland taught me how to kayak … If it wasn’t for Courtland, I probably never would have learned.”
Smith had planned to enter medical school after graduation. Aubry Carmody, who worked with Smith at Camp Mondamin, stated in an e-mail that Smith had hopes of becoming a cardiovascular surgeon.
“Courtland was one of the most amazing people I have ever met,” he wrote. “He truly was a person I admired and strived to be like. Courtland was truly a man for others and always put his peers first before himself.”
Smith graduated summa cum laude from Strake Jesuit College Preparatory School in Houston and was a recipient of the Williams Foundation Scholarship.
There, he was captain of the wrestling team and a member of the National Honor Society.
A funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. Friday at Christ Church Cathedral in Houston.
Smith’s family has asked that remembrances be made in the form of a contribution to UNC’s College of Arts and Sciences Scholarship Fund or Camp Mondamin’s Frank and Calla Bell Scholarship Foundation.
A continuing investigation
Smith, 21, called 911 early Sunday morning saying he was suicidal and needed help. When police stopped his car on Interstate 85 near Greensboro, a confrontation ensued and Smith was shot by Jeremy Paul Flinchum, 29, of the Archdale Police Department.
The State Bureau of Investigation is looking into the incident, which is common in cases of officer-related shootings, and few details of the event have been released.
Flinchum and another officer on the scene have been placed on paid administrative leave.
Chief Darrell Gibbs of the Archdale police said Tuesday that it is standard procedure to send the most experienced officers available in response to a suicide call, but that few were available at 5 a.m., when Smith called.
“We have to send who’s working at that time,” he said. “You have to use your officers on the street. You try and use your most experienced officers.”
Gibbs said Flinchum and the other officer were both experienced, each having served as police for at least seven to eight years.
He added that an officer would only draw a weapon if he had reason to fear for his life.
“That’s what it’s there for, to protect your life or to protect a third party,” Gibbs said. “There’s got to be something to make them do it.”
Senior writers Eliza Kern and Brian Austin contributed reporting to this story.
Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
