Person Of Interest Named In Shooting At Delta State University

An official says one person has died following a shooting at Delta State University. Faculty, staff and students who were cleared from academic buildings were moved to the school's coliseum Monday afternoon.

Bolivar County Deputy Coroner Murray Roark confirmed the deceased is Ethan A. Schmidt. He was an Assistant Professor of American History at the college and is in his 50s. He was shot twice.

Law enforcement held a news conference and distributed a photo of a person of interest who is also an employee at the university. That person is Shannon Lamb.

Police say they have information suggesting Lamb may have been involved in another slaying in the south Mississippi city of Gautier, about 300 miles away.

Gautier police spokesman Matthew Hoggatt told The Sun Herald that a woman was found dead in her home, and that Lamb is the suspect in her death.

Warren Strain, a spokesman for the Mississippi Department of Public Safety, says Lamb is no longer believed to be on the campus. He would not say how investigators reached that conclusion or say where the suspect is believed to be.

University spokeswoman Jennifer Farish confirmed that the lockdown began around 10:45 Monday morning and that students, faculty and staff were being advised to take shelter. 

The 3,500-student university is in Cleveland, in Mississippi's Delta region near the Arkansas-Mississippi state line.