BY BETH VELLIQUETTE

bvelliquette@heraldsun.com; 918-1042

CHAPEL HILL — The SBI is investigating the death of UNC student Courtland Benjamin Smith, who died Sunday morning after he was shot to death by an Archdale police officer south of Greensboro.

Smith, 21, the president of the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity, was driving south on U.S. Interstate 85 at 4:54 a.m. Sunday when he called for police assistance, according to a press release from the Archdale Police Department.

He said he was suicidal.

Police intercepted him on the interstate, and “once the vehicle came to a stop, a confrontation ensued,” according to the Archdale Police Department, and Archdale Police Officer Jeremy Paul Flinchum, 29, shot Smith.

Smith died from at High Point Regional Hospital early Sunday morning.

The Archdale Police Department contacted the SBI, and it is conducting an investigation into the shooting death.

Smith was from Houston, Texas.

Members of the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity declined to comment Sunday evening.