Police officer shot and killed at North Carolina hospital

A suspect has been charged with murder in the shooting death of a police officer in the emergency room of a North Carolina hospital on Saturday, authorities said.

A suspect has been charged with murder in the shooting death of a police officer in the emergency room of a North Carolina hospital on Saturday, authorities said.

Officer Roger Smith was shot and killed while on duty at the WakeMed Garner Healthplex in the town of Garner at 9 a.m. after a “struggle,” WakeMed Health & Hospitals said in a statement. Police said he was 59.

Benji Martin Jr., 29, of Garner, was charged with murder in Smith's death, Garner Police Capt. David Casteline said in a statement Saturday night. It was unclear whether Martin had retained an attorney, and a phone line listed for his address was not in service.

Martin was hospitalized after the incident “with injuries consistent with a gunshot wound sustained during the struggle inside the hospital lobby," Casteline said in an update Sunday.

He is currently in custody and under medical supervision, the captain said, adding that he’ll be taken to the Wake County Detention Center upon his release.