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ARCHDALE — Students at UNC-Chapel Hill return to class today grieving the loss of a fellow student who was shot and killed early Sunday by an Archdale police officer.

Courtland Benjamin Smith, 21, of Houston, Texas, died at High Point Regional Hospital after being shot by Officer Jeremy Paul Flinchum in a traffic stop at 4:54 a.m. Sunday along Interstate 85, according to the SBI.

“There is nothing worse than losing a young person,” said UNC Chancellor Holden Thorp in an e-mail to students Monday.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends as they grieve and cope with such a tragic loss.”

Police said Smith called 911 saying he needed help and was suicidal.

After Flinchum stopped Smith’s SUV at Exit 108 at Hopewell Church Road, there was a confrontation. Flinchum opened fire.

Neither Archdale police or the SBI is saying if Smith was armed or if he threatened officers, himself or passing motorists.

The SBI is investigating the shooting, standard procedure in a fatality involving a police officer.

Flinchum, who joined the department in 2008 after six years with the Randolph County Sheriff’s Office, has been placed on paid administrative leave until the investigation is complete, Archdale Chief Darrell Gibbs said.

Authorities have not said when Smith called police or what kind of help Smith wanted.

The call and police radio recordings of the shooting have not been released.

Smith, a junior majoring in biology, was the president of Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity at UNC, according to The Daily Tar Heel, the student newspaper.

He graduated from Strake Jesuit College Preparatory, a private school in Houston, before enrolling at UNC, the paper reported.

“We are heartsick of the loss of our brother,” Chris Rice, a Delta Kappa Epsilon member who graduated from UNC in 1994, told the News & Observer of Raleigh.

“He was a good friend and leader at the DKE house. We are focusing on Courtland and how much we loved him, as well as grieving with his family.”

Fraternity brothers at Delta Kappa Epsilon were not making public statements about the shooting, said Karen Moon of UNC News Services.

Smith spent the past eight years— the last two as a counselor — at Camp Mondamin, a summer camp for boys near Tuxedo in western North Carolina, said Frank Bell Jr., the camp director.

“He was one of the finest young men I ever knew,” Bell said. “It’s completely unbelievable.”

Smith’s family did not return a message seeking comment.

Contact Ryan Seals at 373-7077 or ryan.seals@news-record.com