Suspect Identified and Arrested in Two College Campus Murders
A 25-year-old Detroit native has been arrested in connection with the shooting deaths of two people on the campus of the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs.
Samuel Knopp of Parker, Colorado, and Celie Rain Montgomery of Pueblo, Colorado, were found shot to death early Friday morning in a college dormitory, according to KRDO-TV.
Nicholas Jordan was arrested in Colorado Springs on Monday morning, according to CBS News.
“It was really a smooth arrest,” Colorado Springs Police Chief Adrian Vasquez said.
Jordan is enrolled at the college where the shootings took place, college representative school Chris Valentine said.
Here is the mugshot for Nicholas Jordan, the UCCS student accused of shooting two people on campus on Friday. Read more here: https://t.co/EwGE8O5YQc pic.twitter.com/PNBZYc5b1o
— KRDO13 (@KRDO_13) February 20, 2024
Knopp, 24, was currently registered as a student, while Montgomery, 26, was not, according to the KRDO.
Police said they had been seeking Jordan since Friday, when they obtained an arrest warrant for him on two counts of first-degree murder.
On Monday, officers spotted him while he was driving, and he was arrested.
The victims and the suspect knew one another, police said.
“Investigative efforts continue to indicate this was an isolated incident between individuals who were known to one another and not a random attack against the school or other students at the university,” police said Monday, according to NBC News.
Police responded early Friday to a report of shots fired, but the victims were dead when they arrived, according to The Associated Press.
The university held what it called a healing march Monday for students.
On Friday morning, Samuel Knopp, a senior in the visual and performing arts program, and Celie Rain Montgomery were tragically taken from us in an isolated shooting incident in Crestone House.
— UCCS (@UCCS) February 20, 2024
“We’re all in this together. I just know he’d be happy to see this,” Haden Gillespie, Knopp’s roommate, said, according to CBS News.
“I just want everyone to know that I love you and we’ll get through it together so, thank you all for being here,” Gillespie said.
Suspect charged with murder in dorm room gunshot killings at University of Colorado https://t.co/y9UxAMPniR pic.twitter.com/lVhJRfrLeb
— New York Post (@nypost) February 19, 2024
“These kinds of tragedies big or small, definitely hit all around the world. It always happens. But we don’t really feel it until it hits our atmosphere, our circle,” college junior Nissi Paugio said.
Student Kaylynn Harrell said she was mourning Knopp’s death, according to KRDO-TV.
“We kind of knew the day of that it was him. We knew what room he was living in and where everybody was investigating. So, we kind of knew at the beginning, and that was hard for all of my roommates. We didn’t know what to think or what to do,” Harrell said.
“He was an extremely talented individual and he had so much going for him. He was extremely bubbly and so kind. He could talk about anything with anybody for hours,” she said.
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