WakeMed officer fatally shot was fired from previous job for policy violations
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- WakeMed Officer Roger Smith died in a shooting last month in the emergency room.
- Public records show he was fired from the Knightdale Police Department in 2013.
- Smith was shot twice, and Martin was shot at least once, requiring a colostomy.
BEHIND THE STORY
MOREWhy we’re reporting this
Many questions remain in the fatal shooting that occurred Nov. 8, 2025, in WakeMed Garner HealthPlex’s emergency department. Martin’s friends and family have questioned Smith’s response. The News & Observer requested his publicly available personnel records from his previous job in Knightdale and received those and other documents the week of Dec. 8. WakeMed, as a private entity, is not obligated to release personnel records to the public and declined to comment for this story.
The WakeMed Campus Police Department officer fatally shot in an incident with a patient last month had been fired from his previous job at the Knightdale Police Department, The News & Observer has learned.
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.
No body camera or surveillance footage has been released, though Martin’s loved ones have called for such footage to be shared publicly. The Garner Police Department, which responded to the shooting, has offered little information beyond sharing WakeMed staff’s description of Smith as a “hero whose actions likely prevented further loss of life.”
Friends and loved ones of Martin, who is charged with murder, have challenged that depiction.
They say Martin, who was also shot, did not pose a threat to others and that WakeMed staff responded inappropriately to his mental health crisis.
Here’s what newly released records obtained by The N&O this week show.
Fired from Knightdale PD
Smith, who briefly worked for WakeMed Campus Police in 1994 before joining the Knightdale Police Department in 1996, was fired from the Knightdale department in 2013 after multiple policy violations, according to a termination letter released to The N&O in a public records request.
In the July 9, 2013, letter, then-Police Chief Jason Godwin told Smith he was being fired for a serious policy violation, in addition to previous warnings, suspensions and demotions.
“This repetitive violation of policy is in addition to the numerous other issues pertaining to your job performance,” Godwin wrote. “These recent occurrences combined with the numerous warnings you have received for performance issues have created a substantial record of inadequate job performance.”
Smith had received “sub-standard” annual performance reviews for the past three years, Godwin noted.
His personnel record shows Smith joined the department on Feb. 22, 1997, and worked his way up to lieutenant in December 2001 before taking a voluntary demotion in July 2002. During his 16 years with the department, disciplinary actions included:
- A voluntary demotion July 19, 2002, for poor performance.
- A Nov. 17, 2004, suspension for tardiness and poor performance.
- An Aug. 30, 2005, suspension for tardiness.
- An April 8, 2010, suspension for tardiness and failure to complete reports.
- A Jan. 21, 2013, 24-hour suspension for “repetitive policy violations” on “report writing and submission and task completion.”
- A March 27, 2013, final written warning for “failing to conduct a thorough investigation” in a traffic crash.
- A July 3, 2013, 40-hour suspension for a policy violation related to “response procedures, pursuit driving and emergency vehicle operations.”
The July 2013 violation was apparently tied to a failure “to identify active warrants” on a suspect in a misdemeanor larceny case, according to Godwin’s letter.
Neither the letter nor Smith’s publicly available personnel records provide further details on the nature of the policy violations.
The N&O could not ask WakeMed if it knew Smith had been fired from his previous job because hospital spokesperson Kristin Kelly said Wednesday the system would not answer questions for this story.
Because WakeMed is a private entity, its personnel records are not subject to the state’s public records law, unlike the Knightdale Police Department.
Praise and an award
Smith received public praise during his time in Knightdale for his handling of crises.
In a 2007 letter to The N&O, the then-president-elect of the Wake County affiliate of the National Alliance on Mental Illness praised Smith’s response to a situation involving a woman struggling with mental illness.
He was also named the Knightdale Police Department’s top Crisis Intervention Team officer of the year in 2012, The N&O previously reported.
In a statement to the media after Smith’s death, Knightdale Police Chief Lawrence Capps described him as “a towering figure whose stature was matched by his giant heart.”
“He is fondly remembered for his unwavering kindness and dedication to our community,” Capps said in the statement.
But Martin’s supporters have questioned if Smith and WakeMed staff responded appropriately to Martin’s mental health crisis.
“We want to know how an unarmed, nonviolent individual who has no criminal history of violence, no criminal history whatsoever, can show up at a medical facility in duress ... and end up in a situation such as this,” said the Rev. Greg Drumwright, who is supporting Martin’s family, at a Nov. 24 press conference.
This story was originally published December 11, 2025 at 5:45 AM.
