Public records provide new details in deadly WakeMed Garner Healthplex shooting
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Records show Officer Roger Smith was shot twice in the Nov. 8 incident.
- A court filing says Benji Martin Jr., who is charged in his death, was also badly hurt.
- Martin underwent a colostomy as a result and was hospitalized for almost two weeks.
The WakeMed police officer killed in a shooting last month was shot at least twice, while the man charged in his death was also seriously injured, according to newly released public records and court documents.
Officer Roger Smith, 59, died Nov. 8 in the emergency department of the WakeMed Garner Healthplex. He was fatally wounded during an alleged struggle with 29-year-old Benji Martin Jr., who had been brought to the emergency room after experiencing a mental health crisis.
Martin was charged with murder Nov. 21 after being released from the hospital. His supporters have challenged public narratives depicting Smith as a hero, arguing that Martin wouldn’t intentionally harm anyone and didn’t receive proper care from WakeMed staff.
Smith’s death certificate, filed Nov. 12, states he sustained two gunshot wounds, one to the chest and one to the “right lower extremity/back.” The shot to the chest was the fatal injury, the certificate states.
Smith was declared dead at 9:48 a.m., 50 minutes after he was shot, according to the certificate.
Though officials haven’t publicly commented on who shot whom, Smith’s death certificate states he was “shot by another person(s),” while a court filing by Martin’s defense attorney Tuesday said Martin was shot by Smith. The weapon involved was a .32-caliber firearm, according to 911 calls previously reported by The N&O.
Martin, who was in the hospital for almost two weeks after the shooting, was seriously injured, requiring a colostomy as a result, according to his defense attorney’s motion for medical supplies.
Martin’s attorney, Emilia Beskind, has asked a judge to order the Wake County Detention Center, where he’s been held without bail since his Nov. 21 release from the hospital, to provide her client with additional medical supplies.
“The supplies that were sent with Mr. Martin from the hospital to the jail have run out in some cases and will soon run out in others,” Beskind wrote. “Currently essential functions like providing a sterile seal around the port to his colostomy bag are being improvised with tape rather than the required seals for his size of bag.”
That puts Martin at a risk of infection, she said.
Beskind could not be reached for additional comment Wednesday.
Martin is scheduled to be arraigned Jan. 12 to enter an initial plea of guilty or not guilty, court records show.
This story was originally published December 11, 2025 at 5:50 AM with the headline "Public records provide new details in deadly WakeMed Garner Healthplex shooting."
