Professor dead after shooting at college in Mississippi

Ethan Schmidt, left, was shot dead on Delta State University campus. Police have named Shannon Lamb, right, as a person of interest. Photo / Supplied

A history professor was shot dead in his office at Delta State University in Mississippi, and now a colleague of the victim has been identified as a person of interest in the killing and a suspect in an earlier murder.

Officials have identified the victim as assistant history professor Ethan Schmidt. According to his Facebook page, Mr Schmidt was a 39-year-old married father of three children.

Murray Roark, a deputy coroner in Bolivar County, has confirmed that the professor was shot in the head in his office. The murder weapon has not been recovered, but officers did find a pair of shell casings on the scene.

Police lock down Delta State University campus. Photo / AP

Mississippi Highway Patrol has now also identified a person of interest in the case as 45-year-old Shannon Lamb, a geography professor at Delta State, who is also a suspect in a murder that was reported prior to the first "active shooter" alert at the university.

Lamb has been teaching at Delta since 2009 and last year earned his PhD. His profile on Delta State's website states that one of his areas of expertise is "geography of crime".

According to police, Lamb is also a suspect in the shooting death of a woman in Gautier that took place about 20 minutes before the shooting at Delta State.

Students and staff were ordered to shelter in place and stay away from windows after the college warned that "an active shooter has been spotted on campus near Jobe Hall".

Cleveland Police later confirmed the active shooter sighting and Delta State officials tweeted that there was one fatality.

Lamb reportedly called police to report the murder in Gautier. According to local reports, the unnamed victim was his girlfriend.

Police believe there is a connection between the two crime scenes.

Gautier Police Detective Matthew Hoggatt said the suspect left Gautier in a green SUV, and the same vehicle was later found at Delta State.

The suspect still remains at large. However, Warren Strain, a spokesman for the Mississippi Department of Public Safety, says the suspect 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.