{
  "id": "2015-09-14-delta-state-university-professor-shooting",
  "slug": "delta-state-university-professor-shooting-2015-09-14",
  "institution": {
    "name": "Delta State University",
    "shortName": "DSU",
    "state": "MS",
    "type": "public-masters",
    "alertSystemName": "DSU Emergency Alert"
  },
  "incident": {
    "date": "2015-09-14",
    "type": "active-shooter",
    "cleryCategory": "emergency-notification",
    "resolution": "confirmed-threat",
    "headline": "Faculty member fatally shot in his office by a colleague, who later died by suicide",
    "headlinePublic": "Faculty member fatally shot in his office by a colleague, who later died by suicide",
    "summary": "Assistant history professor [Ethan Schmidt was shot and killed in his office in Jobe Hall](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delta_State_University) 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. CDT and remained on lockdown for hours while hundreds of officers converged on Cleveland, Mississippi. [Lamb died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound](https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/09/14/440274696/1-dead-as-police-search-for-shooter-at-mississippis-delta-state-university) near Greenville, Mississippi after fleeing by car.",
    "outcome": "One faculty member killed (Ethan Schmidt). Suspect Shannon Lamb died by suicide. No other campus casualties. Campus placed on lockdown for several hours.",
    "casualties": {
      "killed": 1,
      "injured": 0
    }
  },
  "alerts": [
    {
      "sequence": 1,
      "type": "initial",
      "timestamp": "2015-09-14T10:44:18-05:00",
      "channel": "twitter-x",
      "verbatimText": "SCHOOLCAST: An active shooter has been spotted on campus near Jobe Hall. Please take immediate lock down action.",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": true,
      "sourceDescription": "@DeltaState on X (official)",
      "annotations": [
        "Exact text from Delta State University official X account during the Sept 14 2015 lockdown."
      ],
      "characterCount": 112,
      "sourceUrl": "https://x.com/DeltaState/status/643450205753470976"
    },
    {
      "sequence": 2,
      "type": "update",
      "timestamp": "2015-09-14T10:56:18-05:00",
      "channel": "twitter-x",
      "verbatimText": "Campus remains under lockdown. More information will be distributed as available.",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": true,
      "sourceDescription": "@DeltaState on X (official)",
      "annotations": [
        "Exact text from Delta State University official X account during the Sept 14 2015 lockdown."
      ],
      "characterCount": 81,
      "sourceUrl": "https://x.com/DeltaState/status/643453226243760128"
    },
    {
      "sequence": 3,
      "type": "update",
      "timestamp": "2015-09-14T11:06:27-05:00",
      "channel": "twitter-x",
      "verbatimText": "Campus remains under lockdown. Please stay inside and away from windows.",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": true,
      "sourceDescription": "@DeltaState on X (official)",
      "annotations": [
        "Exact text from Delta State University official X account during the Sept 14 2015 lockdown."
      ],
      "characterCount": 72,
      "sourceUrl": "https://x.com/DeltaState/status/643455779035590656"
    },
    {
      "sequence": 4,
      "type": "update",
      "timestamp": "2015-09-14T11:25:00-05:00",
      "channel": "twitter-x",
      "verbatimText": "Delta State University has confirmed one fatality. Campus remains under lockdown. Please stay inside and away from windows.",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": true,
      "sourceDescription": "@DeltaState on X (official)",
      "annotations": [
        "Exact text from Delta State University official X account during the Sept 14 2015 lockdown."
      ],
      "characterCount": 123,
      "sourceUrl": "https://x.com/DeltaState/status/643460450437451776"
    },
    {
      "sequence": 5,
      "type": "update",
      "timestamp": "2015-09-14T12:11:31-05:00",
      "channel": "twitter-x",
      "verbatimText": "Campus remains under lockdown. Please do not leave the building. Stay away from windows. More information will be sent out as available.",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": true,
      "sourceDescription": "@DeltaState on X (official)",
      "annotations": [
        "Exact text from Delta State University official X account during the Sept 14 2015 lockdown."
      ],
      "characterCount": 136,
      "sourceUrl": "https://x.com/DeltaState/status/643472154592415744"
    },
    {
      "sequence": 6,
      "type": "update",
      "timestamp": "2015-09-14T13:28:47-05:00",
      "channel": "twitter-x",
      "verbatimText": "Classes are cancelled for the remainder of the day and tonight.",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": true,
      "sourceDescription": "@DeltaState on X (official)",
      "annotations": [
        "Exact text from Delta State University official X account during the Sept 14 2015 lockdown."
      ],
      "characterCount": 63,
      "sourceUrl": "https://x.com/DeltaState/status/643491601067716608"
    },
    {
      "sequence": 7,
      "type": "update",
      "timestamp": "2015-09-14T14:13:40-05:00",
      "channel": "twitter-x",
      "verbatimText": "All faculty, staff and students who have been cleared from academic buildings are being moved to Sillers Coliseum.",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": true,
      "sourceDescription": "@DeltaState on X (official)",
      "annotations": [
        "Exact text from Delta State University official X account during the Sept 14 2015 lockdown."
      ],
      "characterCount": 114,
      "sourceUrl": "https://x.com/DeltaState/status/643502896340992000"
    },
    {
      "sequence": 8,
      "type": "update",
      "timestamp": "2015-09-14T15:41:10-05:00",
      "channel": "twitter-x",
      "verbatimText": "Classes will be cancelled today and tomorrow, including night classes. Counselors will be here tomorrow at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. for groups.",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": true,
      "sourceDescription": "@DeltaState on X (official)",
      "annotations": [
        "Exact text from Delta State University official X account during the Sept 14 2015 lockdown."
      ],
      "characterCount": 137,
      "sourceUrl": "https://x.com/DeltaState/status/643524913484177412"
    },
    {
      "sequence": 9,
      "type": "update",
      "timestamp": "2015-09-14T16:21:50-05:00",
      "channel": "twitter-x",
      "verbatimText": "Campus remains under lockdown.",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": true,
      "sourceDescription": "@DeltaState on X (official)",
      "annotations": [
        "Exact text from Delta State University official X account during the Sept 14 2015 lockdown."
      ],
      "characterCount": 30,
      "sourceUrl": "https://x.com/DeltaState/status/643535149909590016"
    },
    {
      "sequence": 10,
      "type": "update",
      "timestamp": "2015-09-14T18:43:20-05:00",
      "channel": "twitter-x",
      "verbatimText": "Campus remains under lockdown. Suspect still at large. Many thanks to all of the law enforcement working to keep us safe. #StatesmenStrong",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": true,
      "sourceDescription": "@DeltaState on X (official)",
      "annotations": [
        "Exact text from Delta State University official X account during the Sept 14 2015 lockdown."
      ],
      "characterCount": 138,
      "sourceUrl": "https://x.com/DeltaState/status/643570758204133376"
    }
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "title": "Delta State University @DeltaState Twitter alert — SCHOOLCAST (Twitter/X archive)",
      "url": "https://twitter.com/deltastate/status/643450205753470976",
      "type": "official-social"
    },
    {
      "title": "Delta State University @DeltaState Twitter update, fatality confirmed (Twitter/X archive)",
      "url": "https://twitter.com/DeltaState/status/643460450437451776",
      "type": "official-social"
    },
    {
      "title": "Suspect In Delta State University Shooting Dead, Authorities Say (NPR)",
      "url": "https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/09/14/440274696/1-dead-as-police-search-for-shooter-at-mississippis-delta-state-university",
      "type": "national-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "Delta State Shooting: Suspected Gunman Dead After Professor Ethan Schmidt Killed on Campus (NBC News)",
      "url": "https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/one-killed-while-active-shooter-mississippis-delta-college-campus-n427036",
      "type": "national-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "Delta State University Shooting: History Professor Killed (Time)",
      "url": "https://time.com/4033631/shooting-delta-state-university/",
      "type": "national-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "Delta State shooting: Shannon Lamb kills himself (CNN)",
      "url": "https://www.cnn.com/2015/09/15/us/mississippi-delta-state-shooting/index.html",
      "type": "national-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "Grambling State freshman arrested in campus shooting that left two dead (Washington Post)",
      "url": "https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2015/09/14/history-professor-shot-and-killed-at-delta-state-university-known-as-mentor/",
      "type": "national-media"
    },
    {
      "type": "official-social",
      "title": "@DeltaState on X (verbatim)",
      "url": "https://x.com/DeltaState/status/643502896340992000"
    },
    {
      "title": "@DeltaState seq1",
      "url": "https://x.com/DeltaState/status/643450205753470976",
      "type": "official-social"
    },
    {
      "title": "@DeltaState seq2",
      "url": "https://x.com/DeltaState/status/643453226243760128",
      "type": "official-social"
    },
    {
      "title": "@DeltaState seq3",
      "url": "https://x.com/DeltaState/status/643455779035590656",
      "type": "official-social"
    },
    {
      "title": "@DeltaState seq4",
      "url": "https://x.com/DeltaState/status/643460450437451776",
      "type": "official-social"
    },
    {
      "title": "@DeltaState seq5",
      "url": "https://x.com/DeltaState/status/643472154592415744",
      "type": "official-social"
    },
    {
      "title": "@DeltaState seq6",
      "url": "https://x.com/DeltaState/status/643491601067716608",
      "type": "official-social"
    },
    {
      "title": "@DeltaState seq8",
      "url": "https://x.com/DeltaState/status/643524913484177412",
      "type": "official-social"
    },
    {
      "title": "@DeltaState seq9",
      "url": "https://x.com/DeltaState/status/643535149909590016",
      "type": "official-social"
    },
    {
      "title": "@DeltaState seq10",
      "url": "https://x.com/DeltaState/status/643570758204133376",
      "type": "official-social"
    }
  ],
  "context": "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](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2015/09/14/history-professor-shot-and-killed-at-delta-state-university-known-as-mentor/), 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](https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/09/14/440274696/1-dead-as-police-search-for-shooter-at-mississippis-delta-state-university), 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.",
  "confidence": "high",
  "tags": [
    "active-shooter",
    "faculty-involved",
    "professor-killed",
    "public-masters",
    "mississippi",
    "small-campus",
    "workplace-violence",
    "fled-campus",
    "suspect-deceased"
  ],
  "dateAdded": "2026-05-31",
  "lastUpdated": "2026-07-18",
  "addedBy": "ingestion",
  "keyFindings": []
}