Shannon Lamb is shown in this handout photo provided by the Gautier Police Department in Jackson, Mississippi, Sept 14, 2015. [Photo/Agencies]

He said Lamb was last seen driving a black 2011 Dodge Avenger with license plates from Stone County in south Mississippi.

Local media reported that Lamb called Gautier police to report the killing.

Lamb's Facebook page had numerous photos of Prentiss, whom he called his "Sweet Baby Angel," in one photo post.

After receiving his doctorate in July, Lamb wrote he had "tried to maintain a relationship with the best girl in the whole wide world. (Amy Prentiss)."

Delta State officials said no students were injured in the campus shooting, which occurred in Jobe Hall, which houses the Division of Social Sciences and History.

'Devastated'

"I couldn't have asked for a greater friend and colleague," Westmoreland said of Schmidt. "He was warm and friendly to everyone and extremely involved in campus life."

Schmidt was married with three children, he said.

"My colleagues and I are devastated by all of the news," added Garry Jennings, a Delta State political science professor.

Schmidt, 39, was an excellent scholar and gifted teacher who went "beyond the call of duty" in his teaching, Jennings said in an email to Reuters. He was working with Schmidt on a program on Native Americans in November.

All classes at Delta State were canceled on Monday, as well as Tuesday, when events had been planned to commemorate the university's 90th anniversary.

The slain professor earned a doctorate in early American history and Native American history from the University of Kansas and taught for six years at Texas Tech University before joining the faculty at Delta State, according to his school biography.

More than 4,000 students are enrolled in the public university, 120 miles (195 km) northwest of Jackson, Mississippi.