Delta State professor Shannon Lamb’s killing spree puzzles family, friends

By all outward appearances, Delta State University college professor Shannon Lamb had a lot going for him: He was in a loving relationship, had just celebrated a birthday, enjoyed many friends and recently realized his life’s dream by earning a doctorate.

Everything about the doting Mississippi father of two seems to contradict someone capable of a killing spree.

Police on Tuesday admitted that they don’t know why Lamb killed live-in girlfriend Amy Prentiss with a single gunshot to the head sometime late Sunday, then drove five hours to Cleveland, Miss., where he fatally shot a colleague, Delta State assistant professor Ethan Schmidt, on Monday.

“It’s still a pretty fluid case right now,” said Gautier, Miss., police officer Matt Hoggatt. “At this time, Gautier police have no indication of any relationship between the victim at Delta State and the victim in Gautier.”

Authorities said Lamb, by then the subject of a statewide manhunt, shot himself late Monday night after officers spotted him driving Prentiss’ car near his hometown of Greenville, Miss. The suicide occurred a mile from his parents' home.

“We are all in shock and at a loss to explain his behavior,” Mark Bonta, Lamb’s longtime friend, told Yahoo News in an email. “As his Facebook page shows, he was a very popular guy; why he did what he did remains a great mystery to my family and to many friends and colleagues.”

Bonta, now a professor of earth science at Penn State Altoona, first had Lamb as a student at Delta State, a public university of 4,000 students about two hours northwest of Jackson, Miss.

Lamb spent a third of his life at Delta State. It’s where he earned his bachelor’s degree in education at age 33. Three years later, while teaching high school in nearby Greenville and Avon, he got his master’s. By 2009, his college alma mater hired the divorced father of a young son and daughter to teach geography and social sciences.

“He raised both his babies by himself while becoming a teacher and then a professor — living an American dream,” Christie Lamb, his sister-in-law, said in an email.

Christie, the wife of Lamb’s brother Stanley, was the only family member contacted to reply to Yahoo News.

“Shannon was not a cold-blooded killer,” she said. “Something went bad wrong.”

Hoggatt said Lamb had no apparent criminal record. Nor have detectives in Gautier, a small coastal community 300 miles from Delta State, found any evidence of substance abuse or domestic violence, he said.

Lamb did leave a one-page note near Prentiss’ body, which Gautier police made public on Tuesday.

“I am so very sorry,” Lamb wrote on a legal pad. “I wish I could take it back. I loved Amy and she is the only person who loved me.”

It was unclear on Tuesday how long Prentiss, 41, and Lamb had dated. Photos on Lamb’s Facebook page suggest they had been together since at least 2013. Some of the pictures show trips to Disneyland with all of their children and other family members. Lamb, a musician who sang at local bars, would often include Prentiss’ teenage daughter, Abigail, in his gigs.

“I love you more every day,” Prentiss commented on Lamb’s Facebook page this summer after he received his doctorate from Delta State. “We love you more than anything and appreciate all of your hard work and dedication.”

Lamb’s doctorate was clearly a watershed moment. His July 14 Facebook post included a photo of him receiving his diploma with a long thank-you to family, friends and colleagues.

“I realize for many of you it must seem as if I simply dropped off the face of the earth for the past 18 months or so,” Lamb wrote. “I apologize for that, but please believe me when I say that I was doing the best I could do. Ask anyone who has written a doctoral dissertation, worked a full time job, raised a family, and tried to maintain a relationship with the best girl in the whole wide world. (Amy Prentiss) I love each and everyone of you, and hope to see you all sooner rather than later. Stay tuned!!!!”

Bonta, his former professor and colleague, was one of nearly 250 people to congratulate him on Facebook. The two last saw each other last New Year’s Eve.

“At this early juncture I don't feel comfortable speculating to the media about his motives or what might have led him to ‘snap,’ but I do understand that it is important to try to help the public understand,” Bonta said on Tuesday. “I do know that Shannon was a workaholic — one of the hardest-working people I’ve ever known — and often under extreme stress.”

Without offering specifics, Delta State University President William LaForge told reporters that Lamb recently requested a lighter teaching load due to medical difficulties. He was currently assigned to two online geography courses.

“Like I said, something went terribly wrong,” Christie Lamb wrote in her email. “The devastation is unbearable … he will be greatly missed by many, many people and family and two precious children.”

It was unclear on Tuesday if Lamb’s teenage children currently lived with him or their mother. Messages from Yahoo News to Lamb’s ex-wife went unanswered.

Schmidt, a popular history professor and married father of three, was shot multiple times as he stood in the doorway of his office suite at the university with a book bag on his shoulder, according to authorities. School officials said they didn’t know of any rift between Lamb and Schmidt.

But “obviously there was something in Mr. Lamb’s mind,” LaForge, the university president, told reporters.

Tom Laub, a history professor whose office is near Schmidt’s, declined to discuss the tragedy when contacted by Yahoo News.

“We have students to care for and a colleague who needs to be buried. Both come first,” Laub said in a text message. “My colleagues and I may be willing to talk with reporters when the dust settles.”

Gautier police said Lamb phoned them 20 minutes before Schmidt was shot to alert them to Prentiss’ death. Authorities released the recording on Tuesday.

“I shot my wife last night,” Lamb says on the call, though police say they don’t believe the couple was officially married.

Lamb gives his address and asks that officers be dispatched.

“There is a dog in the house,” Lamb warns before adding, “He’s a sweet dog. He’s not going to bother anybody, but I’m sure he’s upset.”

Lamb pauses and doesn’t answer when the police dispatcher asks for his name.

“Um, that’s all I feel like saying right now,” Lamb said. “Just go take care of her. You’ll find all of her family’s phone numbers and things in her phone.”

Jason Sickles is a national reporter for Yahoo News. Follow him on Twitter (@jasonsickles).