Shannon Lamb, the leading suspect in this week’s fatal Delta State University shooting, died Monday from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.
The Associated Press was the first outlet to report the news.
Lamb had recently been upgraded from a person of interest in the killing of history professor Ethan Schmidt and church outreach minister Amy Prentiss to the man suspected of pulling the trigger.
After trying to flee from authorities who were following him as he was driving, Lamb was taken to a hospital in Greenville where he was pronounced dead.
According to Charles Bingham – the police chief in Cleveland, Mississippi – officers in pursuit of Lamb heard a single gunshot and subsequently found Lamb’s body after they had closed in on him.
Lamb, a geography teacher at Delta State University, allegedly killed Schmidt on campus and also took the life of Prentiss, in Gautier, Mississippi, a town located over 300 miles away from the school.
He was living with Prentiss at the time of her murder.
"We’re relieved that this tragedy is over," University President William LaForge told The Associated Press.
There will be no classes on Tuesday, though students have been invited to attend a vigil in honor of staff member Schmidt.