US & Canada Delta State University shooting suspect 'kills himself'

 
• From the sectionUS & Canada

Image copyrightDelta State University

Image captionEthan Schmidt was a professor of history at the university

A gunman who shot dead a professor as he worked in his university office in Mississippi has died after apparently killing himself, officials say.

Geography professor Shannon Lamb died following a manhunt.

He is suspected of shooting Ethan Schmidt, a history teacher at Delta State University, in an attack in the city of Cleveland.

Police also linked Mr Lamb to the fatal shooting of a woman 300 miles away earlier in the day.

Amy Prentiss, 41, was found shot dead at the home she shared with Mr Lamb in Gautier, Mississippi, in the early hours.

At a news conference on Monday evening, police in Gautier said they had spoken to Mr Lamb, 45, who had been an employee of the university since 2009.

He had told police he was "not going to jail".

He later pulled over as police were following him and jumped out of his car, and when officers gave chase they heard a single gunshot and found Mr Lamb dead, Delta State University police official Lynn Buford told the Associated Press news agency.

Image copyrightAP

Image captionSuspected gunman Shannon Lamb joined the university in 2009

Police were called to the university at 10:18 local time (16:18 GMT) when shots were heard.

Prof Schmidt, who specialised in Native American and colonial history, was shot in his office inside the university's Jobe Hall building, police said.

All campus buildings were then locked from the inside and officials advised people to shelter as police cleared students from buildings on campus.

Freshman Noah Joyner, 18, said he stayed inside a bathroom in his dorm buildings during the lockdown.

"There were people banging on the doors to have somebody let them in," he said. "It was pretty terrifying to hear people banging on the door."

Image copyrightAP

Image captionThe gunman had eluded police on campus

Police helicopters circled the campus and hundreds of officers swept the buildings.

Mr Lamb was apparently "easy going" and had taken some leave recently for "personal reasons", Don Mitchell, an associate professor of English at the university, told Fox News.

He called Prof Schmidt "a gentleman in every sense of the word" and "a terrific family man".

Roughly 3,500 students are enrolled at the university near the Arkansas border.