Updated: 20.50
A PROFESSOR HAS been shot dead at Delta State University in Mississippi.
The campus is on lockdown, but the shooter is no longer believed to be on the grounds.
It’s unclear whether anyone else is injured.
The victim has been named as history professor Ethan Schmidt. He was killed in his office.
Police in Mississippi have named university employee Shannon Lamb as a person of interest.
Detective Matt Hoggatt told CNN police believe a homicide that happened in the area earlier today could be connected to the shooting.
Schmidt directed the first-year seminar program and specialised in Native American and colonial history, Don Allan Mitchell, an English professor at the school, said.
He called Schmidt “a gentleman in every sense of the word.”
Dr Ethan Schmidt was a terrific family man, a good friend.
‘Pretty terrifying’
Student Noah Joyner (18) said he was shaken by the lockdown. He hunkered down in a bathroom of his dorm building and heard others desperate to get in when reports of the active shooter spread.
There were like people banging on the doors to have somebody let them in. It was pretty terrifying to hear people banging on the door.
University Relations Vice President Michelle Roberts said it is a tragic situation, and the entire campus sends its heartfelt thoughts and sympathy to Professor Schmidt’s family.
“We are grieving on this campus with this loss, and our condolences are with the family at this time,” Roberts said.
The lockdown began about 10:45am (4.45pm GMT) local time, with the university advising students, faculty and staff to take shelter and stay away from windows.
State and local law enforcement agencies are working to find the gunman.
The 3,500-student university is in Cleveland in Mississippi’s Delta region near the Arkansas-Mississippi state line.
- with reporting from Órla Ryan
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