news-record.com

Maybe medical examiner Dr. Gordon Arnold of High Point saw the police video, which enabled him to write in his report that Courtland Smith "made a suggestive move toward his pocket which the police interpreted as a move to get a gun."

This happened Aug. 23 on I-85 in Randolph County.

Smith, a 21-year-old UNC-Chapel Hill student, was intoxicated and driving recklessly. He told Guilford County 911 he was "trying to kill myself" and had a gun.

He was shot and killed by Archdale police after pulling over.

Did he have a gun? Authorities won't say. It probably doesn't matter as long as police had reason to believe he had a gun and saw him make a "suggestive move toward his pocket." You don't wait for the suspect to shoot first.

The police video -- not released to the public yet -- may shed light on the question.

Arnold must have seen it. How else could he have drawn the conclusion that Smith made a "suggestive move"?

Or, as Smith's fraternity complained yesterday, was Arnold making an "editorial statement" not normally included in a medical report?