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Motive elusive in Mississippi double shooting

Liz Schmidt, widow of Delta State University history professor Ethan Schmidt, center, who was murdered by a colleague in his office Monday, is comforted by friends, Jenn Westmoreland, left, and Amy Cotrell, during a candlelight memorial in his honor on the Cleveland, Miss., campus, Tuesday night, Sept. 15, 2015. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)
Liz Schmidt, widow of Delta State University history professor Ethan Schmidt, center, who was murdered by a colleague in his office Monday, is comforted by friends, Jenn Westmoreland, left, and Amy Cotrell, during a candlelight memorial in his honor on the Cleveland, Miss., campus, Tuesday night, Sept. 15, 2015. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis) Liz Schmidt, widow of Delta State University history professor Ethan Schmidt, center, who was murdered by a colleague in his office Monday, is comforted by friends, Jenn Westmoreland, left, and Amy Cotrell, during a candlelight memorial in his honor on the Cleveland, Miss., campus, Tuesday night, Sept. 15, 2015. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

By Associated Press 5 min read

GAUTIER, Miss. (AP) – Shannon Lamb’s motive for fatally shooting his girlfriend and a university colleague remains largely a mystery: The university instructor had no criminal record, he was a well-liked teacher, and police said there was no history of domestic violence between him and Amy Prentiss.

And yet there were some signs of trouble: Cleveland Police Chief Charles “Buster” Bingham said Tuesday that authorities had some indication Lamb and the second shooting victim, Delta State University professor Ethan Schmidt, did not get along.

A student who praised Lamb, Brandon Beavers, said the professor also seemed agitated and jittery, “like there was something wrong with him.” And another student, Mikel Sykes, said Lamb told him he was dealing with stress at the end of the 2014-15 academic year.

Lamb also had asked the university for a medical leave of absence, saying he had a health issue of some sort, university President William LaForge has said.

This year, he was only teaching two online classes, and recent changes in the university’s hiring policies meant the doctorate Lamb had worked so hard to earn would not guarantee him an automatic tenure track.