An investigation by Randolph County District Attorney Garland Yates into the tragic death of a University of North Carolina student last August came to a conclusion last week. Yates determined that the fatal shooting of Courtland Smith by Archdale Police Officer Jeremy Paul Flinchum was justified under N.C. law and that the district attorney’s investigation would be closed.

Yates’ decision last week, however, does not conclude the court case surrounding release of videotape of the incident that was captured by cameras mounted in Archdale police cruisers on the scene when the shooting occurred in the early morning hours after police stopped Smith on Interstate 85.

A Randolph County judge sealed the videotape from the public and the media during investigations by Yates and the State Bureau of Investigation and said it should be released at the conclusion of investigations. But that videotape remains sealed today.

Smith’s parents, Pharr and Susan D. Smith of Houston, Texas, have filed legal action requesting that the videotape be sealed permanently. The judge has ordered the videotape remain sealed until a hearing on the Smith’s request can be held, on a date no later than Dec. 18.

We understand the Smith’s request. This was a terrible incident, a tragedy that all concerned wish could have been avoided. We understand the family’s pain, and we hope that it somehow will subside soon. But this is videotape of public officials performing their duties as recorded on equipment provided by the public for the very purpose that it has served in this case ... to provide an accurate record of what transpired that August morning in the confrontation between Smith and Archdale police officers.

The videotape is public property, and it is the public record. Because of that, it should be opened to the public, not sealed and locked away or destroyed.