Gunman who shot professor told 911 he killed girlfriend

Shooter left note at home, advised police that dog wouldn’t hurt anyone

Officers found this note at the scene where Amy Prentiss was killed in Gautier, Miss.
Officers found this note at the scene where Amy Prentiss was killed in Gautier, Miss.

GAUTIER, Miss. -- A university instructor told a police dispatcher that he had killed his girlfriend at a home they shared, and a note at the house said "I am so sorry I wish I could take it back," but there was no hint that he was on the road to kill a colleague a few hundred miles north, police said Tuesday.

Shannon Lamb called 911 on Monday, telling a dispatcher he had killed 41-year-old Amy Prentiss at the home they shared in Gautier along the Gulf Coast. In the call, Lamb refused to give his name but said that family contact information could be found on Prentiss' phone. He said their dog was still in the house, and "he's a sweet dog, and he's not going to bother anybody but I'm sure he's upset."

When officers arrived at the house, they found the note written in all capital letters on a white, lined notepad, signed by Lamb: "I loved Amy and she is the only person who ever loved me."

Police said Lamb killed again about 45 minutes after that 911 call, shooting Delta State University professor Ethan Schmidt, 39, in Schmidt's office.

Schmidt, who taught history, was shot three times -- in his neck, cheek and near the right eye -- in the doorway of his office. He had a book bag on his shoulder, indicating that he was either entering or leaving, Bolivar County Deputy Coroner Murray Roark said.

Lamb killed himself hours later as police closed in on him during a manhunt. At some point after the shootings, he told family members that he had no intention of going to jail. Relatives relayed that information to authorities.

Matt Hoggatt, a spokesman for Gautier police, said during a news conference Tuesday that Lamb had no criminal record, and there was no indication that he and Prentiss had a history of criminal domestic violence.

Police have not released a motive for the shootings. University President William LaForge said he didn't know of any conflict between Lamb and Schmidt, but "obviously there was something in Mr. Lamb's mind."

Lamb, who also worked at the university, had earlier asked for a medical leave of absence, saying he had a health issue of some sort, but LaForge gave no further information about it.

The shooting on campus led to an hours-long lockdown at the university, during which students and faculty members hid in classrooms and closets as authorities looked for Lamb. The campus eventually was cleared by police, and authorities later located Lamb's vehicle, when a license-plate reader detected his license plate as he crossed a bridge over the Mississippi River from Arkansas back into Mississippi, Cleveland Police Chief Charles "Buster" Bingham said.

The Cleveland, Miss., campus is about 25 miles from the Arkansas state line.

Lamb killed himself with a single .380 pistol shot fired into his forehead in the backyard of a home south of his parents' residence on the outskirts of Greenville, Miss., said Washington County Coroner Methel Johnson. He left his car running in the driveway. It was not immediately clear why Lamb went to that home, although Johnson said she believes he knew the people who lived there.

Lamb started working at the university, which has 3,500 students in a city of about 12,000 people, in 2009 and taught geography and education classes. He received a doctorate in education in the spring. He was teaching two online classes this semester, but an in-person class had been canceled, LaForge said.

Brandon Beavers, an education major, said he had a class under Lamb last year.

"It was like that class you look forward to," Beavers said. "It was just cool."

However, he said, Lamb seemed agitated.

"He was really jittery, like there was something wrong with him," Beavers said. "He was never in a bad mood, but he was real shaky."

Lamb and Prentiss had been dating for some time. In the 911 call, Lamb said "I killed my wife," but there was no record of them ever marrying.

Prentiss' ex-husband said they divorced 15 years ago, and remained friends and had a daughter who's now 19.

"She was completely devastated," he said of his daughter. "She and her mother were absolutely best friends."

Schmidt, the slain professor, directed the first-year seminar program and specialized in American Indian and colonial history, said Don Allan Mitchell, an English professor at the school. He was married and had three young children.

Karen Manners Smith, a history professor at Emporia State University in Kansas, where Schmidt studied, called him "a super competent human being."

"He was president of his fraternity, in student government. He was an absolutely delightful student," she said.

Information for this article was contributed by Emily Wagster Pettus, Rebecca Santana and Roxana Hegeman of The Associated Press.

A Section on 09/16/2015

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