It seems like the country’s reached a point where school shootings are no longer shocking. This time, though, there were no students involved in a shooting that occurred at Delta State University in Cleveland, Mississippi earlier today. University Professor Ethan Schmidt was sitting in his office when he was shot and killed earlier this morning, according to the county’s Deputy Coroner, Ted Ray. Police suspect that an instructor at the school, Shannon Lamb, may be responsible for the shooting.
Authorities also believe that Lamb shot and killed a woman he was once in a relationship with in Gautier, Mississippi before coming to Delta State’s campus to find Schmidt. Gautier is about 300 miles away from Cleveland. Lamb allegedly thinks that Schmidt may have also been in a relationship with the same woman.
The university was put under lockdown, with students and faculty advised to stay indoors and away from windows. Police officers and helicopters swept all across the area in a search for the suspect. Lamb is no longer believed to be on campus, but is still at large.
Professor Schmidt, who joined the faculty of Delta State in 2013, was both beloved and accomplished. He previously taught at Texas Tech University and the University of Kansas, where he is originally from. At Delta State, he served on the Diversity Committee and the Student Success Task Force. His colleague, Professor Don Allan Mitchell, called him “a gentleman in every sense of the word.”
