Fellow Teacher Suspected in Prof's Killing

Professor Ethan Schmidt named as victim in Delta State shooting
By Neal Colgrass,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 14, 2015 4:40 PM CDT
Fellow Teacher Suspected in Professor's Murder
Law enforcement officers gather on the Delta State University campus in Cleveland, Miss., Monday, Sept. 14, 2015.   (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

Whoever killed a Mississippi professor in his office today is still on the loose—but authorities have named the victim and a suspect. Per a county coroner, history professor Ethan Schmidt was shot dead in the head today at Delta State University in Cleveland, Miss., the Clarion-Ledger reports. Authorities say their suspect is fellow Delta State instructor Shannon Lamb, reports the Sun Herald; he's also suspected in another shooting about 300 miles away. The two men were said to be romantically involved. As for the school, it remains on lockdown with all classes canceled while city police work with campus police, sheriff's deputies, ATF agents, and the Mississippi Highway Patrol to hunt down their suspect, CNN reports.

Lamb, who joined Delta State's staff six years ago, is a geographer and social sciences expert who just finished his doctorate at the school. The 45-year-old also lived with a woman in the town of Gautier, where police responded to the shooting death of a woman this morning; she hasn't yet been identified. Lamb apparently left home in a green SUV that matches one authorities have found on campus. Messages on Lamb's Facebook page are urging him to give himself up to authorities: "Man, just turn yourself in bro!!" reads one. "Don't do anything to yourself or anyone else..." Schmidt was an assistant professor in US history, WLBT reports, and specialized in Native American history. See more about him at the American Historical Association. (More Mississippi stories.)

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