State and local law enforcement agencies were called to the Delta State University in Mississipi on Monday after a fatal shooting, witnesses and officials said.

Deputy County Coroner Murray Roark said Professor Ethan Schmidt, who taught American history at the university, has been killed at his office on campus.

No students were involved in the shooting, the university said.

The university, which has over 4,000 students, remained on lockdown after the incident; students, faculty and staff were advised to take shelter and stay away from windows.

Possible murder link

Later, local media reported that a man suspected of carrying out the shooting had died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Shannon Lamb killed himself after being cornered by police after a day-long manhunt, WALA-TV said.

Earlier, officials told a news conference that they were looking for a geography instructor, going by the same name, who they described as a "person of interest" connected with the shooting.

They said they had information that Lamb may have been involved in the shooting and the killing of a woman he lived with in the city of Gautier, about 580 kilometers (130 miles) away in the same state.

Delta State University is in the small town of Cleveland near the Arkansas border.

tj/msh (AP, AFP, Reuters)