Campus Alert Archive
DSU

A Professor Shoots a Colleague in His Office, Then Flees Into Mississippi Farmland

MSactive shooteremergency notificationmedium confidence
Confirmed Threat

Assistant history professor Ethan Schmidt was shot and killed in his office in Jobe Hall on September 14, 2015 by fellow faculty member Shannon Lamb, 45, who had also killed his girlfriend earlier that morning in a coastal Mississippi city 300 miles away. The campus issued an active-shooter alert via Twitter and text at approximately 10:45 a.m. CST and remained on lockdown for hours while hundreds of officers converged on Cleveland, Mississippi. Lamb died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound near Greenville, Mississippi after fleeing by car.

Alerts
4
Response
—
Killed
1
Injured
0
Institution
Delta State University
Public Masters · MS
DSU Emergency Alert
Confirmed Timeline

Alert Sequence

4 messages in sequence · 2 verified verbatim

Some alert texts below are approximate reconstructions from news coverage, not confirmed verbatim transcripts. Reconstructed texts are shown in italic with a dashed border. Verified verbatim texts have a solid border and are marked accordingly.

INITIAL ALERTTwitter/X
Verified verbatimDelta State University official Twitter account (@deltastate) tweet, confirmed by NBC News, Time, and NPR coverage of the September 14, 2015 shooting112 chars
SCHOOLCAST: An active shooter has been spotted on campus near Jobe Hall. Please take immediate lock down action.
Verbatim tweet from Delta State University's official Twitter account (@deltastate) at approximately 10:45 a.m. CST on September 14, 2015, about 15 minutes after the shooting in Jobe Hall; tweet confirmed by multiple national outlets
The 'SCHOOLCAST:' prefix is DSU's branded emergency alert label on its Twitter channel, equivalent to 'ALERT:' used by other institutions
Jobe Hall is an academic building on DSU's compact campus in Cleveland, Mississippi; the building housed history and other humanities departments
UPDATETwitter/X
Verified verbatimDelta State University official Twitter account (@DeltaState) tweet, confirmed by Breitbart, Time, and NBC News coverage of the September 14, 2015 shooting123 chars
Delta State University has confirmed one fatality. Campus remains under lockdown. Please stay inside and away from windows.
Verbatim tweet from Delta State University's official Twitter account (@DeltaState) shortly after the initial SCHOOLCAST alert, once Ethan Schmidt's death was confirmed
First public acknowledgment of a confirmed fatality on campus — a significant escalation from the initial 'active shooter spotted' alert
The 'stay away from windows' instruction was the same directive given during the earlier Virginia Tech 2007 lockdown protocols, which became standard university lockdown language after 2007
UPDATESMS
Approximate reconstruction150 chars
DSU ALERT: All faculty, staff and students should move to Sillers Coliseum and remain there until further notice. Do not return to academic buildings.

This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.

Sillers Coliseum served as the designated shelter point; students in resident halls were instructed to remain there
The instruction to consolidate in the coliseum reflects a community-scale shelter protocol used when the shooter's location was unknown
Only approximately 250 of 1,150 campus students were present at the time; many had left for the day before the shooting
ALL CLEARSMS
Approximate reconstruction157 chars
DSU ALERT: All clear. Suspect Shannon Lamb has been found deceased. Campus lockdown has been lifted. Classes are cancelled for the rest of today and tonight.

This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.

Lamb was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in a wooded area near Greenville, approximately 40 miles from campus, after officers followed him and heard a single shot
Delta State cancelled all classes and events for the remainder of the day upon confirmation that the suspect was no longer a threat
Context

Background

Delta State University is a small regional public university in Cleveland, Mississippi, in the heart of the Delta with about 3,500 students. The September 14, 2015 shooting was especially shocking because the suspected killer, Shannon Lamb, was a colleague of the victim, the two having appeared together in university holiday photos. Schmidt, an assistant professor of history and Native American studies who ran the first-year seminar program, was shot in the head inside his office in Jobe Hall. Before arriving on campus, Lamb had allegedly killed his girlfriend, Amy Prentiss, 41, at her home in Gautier, Mississippi, some 300 miles to the southeast, and called 911 to report the killing. Hundreds of officers from the Mississippi Highway Patrol, Cleveland Police, Bolivar County Sheriff, and the ATF converged on campus, which remained locked down throughout the afternoon. Lamb died by suicide in a wooded area near Greenville after being tailed by law enforcement. A vigil was held for Schmidt the following week; his family later established an endowment in his name at DSU.
Outcome
One faculty member killed (Ethan Schmidt). Suspect Shannon Lamb died by suicide. No other campus casualties. Campus placed on lockdown for several hours.
Provenance

Sources

  1. Social
    Delta State University @DeltaState Twitter alert — SCHOOLCAST (Twitter/X archive)
    twitter.com
  2. Social
    Delta State University @DeltaState Twitter update — fatality confirmed (Twitter/X archive)
    twitter.com
  3. national media
    Suspect In Delta State University Shooting Dead, Authorities Say (NPR)
    npr.org
  4. national media
    Delta State Shooting: Suspected Gunman Dead After Professor Ethan Schmidt Killed on Campus (NBC News)
    nbcnews.com
  5. national media
    Delta State University Shooting: History Professor Killed (Time)
    time.com
  6. national media
    Delta State shooting: Shannon Lamb kills himself (CNN)
    cnn.com
  7. national media
    Grambling State freshman arrested in campus shooting that left two dead (Washington Post)
    washingtonpost.com
Tags
active-shooterfaculty-involvedprofessor-killedpublic-mastersmississippismall-campusworkplace-violencefled-campussuspect-deceased
Added May 2026Updated May 2026Via ingestion