Student arrested in dorm shooting in Colorado Springs was roommate of victim, police say

The 25-year-old student who was arrested on murder charges in the fatal shooting at the University of Colorado campus in Colorado Springs was roommates with one of the two victims found dead in a dormitory, authorities said Tuesday.

Nicholas Jordan, of Detroit, was taken into custody on Monday on two counts of first-degree murder in connection with the shooting that killed Samuel Knopp, a 24-year-old student at the university, and Celie Rain Montgomery, 26, who was not enrolled in the school.

Jordan and Knopp were roommates, Ira Cronin, spokesperson for the Colorado Springs Police Department confirmed to USA TODAY. "Other aspects of their relationship (are) tied to our ongoing investigation and we won’t be revealing that at this time," Cronin said.

Police have said the Friday incident was isolated and that Jordan knew Knopp and Montgomery. Jordan was scheduled to appear in court Tuesday afternoon.

Here's what we know so far:

Shots heard, school under lockdown

Officers with the campus police department were called to Crestone House, an on-campus dormitory, after shots were heard around 6 a.m. Friday.

Inside a dorm room, officers found two bodies, triggering an hourslong campus lockdown as investigators worked to determine whether there was an active shooter.

At the request of the university police, the Colorado Springs Police Department took over the investigation. By Friday night, officers had Jordan's name and attained a warrant for his arrest.

"This incident does not appear to be a murder-suicide and both deaths are being investigated as homicides," the city police said Friday in a post on X.

On Sunday afternoon, the department publicly identified Knopp and Montgomery and said "Investigative efforts so far continue to indicate this is an isolated incident between parties that were known to one another and not a random attack against the school or other students at the university."

Police arrest suspect without incident

Police said officers from the motor vehicle theft unit spotted Jordan in a car less than three miles from campus Monday morning and he was arrested without incident shortly afterward.

Jordan was being held in the El Paso County Jail on a $1 million bond as of Tuesday morning, according to the county jail website.

Campus mourns Knopp and Montgomery

The university was closed over the weekend and classes were canceled Monday, though dozens of people participated in a memorial walk at the school of more than 11,000 students and nearly 2,000 faculty and staff.

"As we mourn the loss of Samuel Knopp and Celie Montgomery, my hope is that we will come together as a community, support one another and share in our grief. Please remember that you are not alone," Chancellor Jennifer Sobanet wrote in an email to students.

Sobanet described Knopp as an "accomplished guitar player and an extremely talented musician" who was "a beloved member of the Visual and Performing Arts department."

Although Montgomery was not a student, she will be "mourned by our campus community," Sobanet said.

Montgomery was a student in the Pueblo Community College culinary arts program for one semester in fall 2020, according to Amy Matthew, a spokesperson for the school.

“The Pueblo Community College family extends heartfelt condolences to the family of former PCC student Celie Montgomery, as well as to the family of Samuel Knopp," said Patty Erjavec, the president of Pueblo Community College, in a statement. "These deaths, and the ensuing unimaginable pain, are happening much too often in an environment where teaching and learning should be our only concern.”  

The fatal shooting comes a week after another student died on campus. The Scribe, UCCS' student newspaper, reported that on the night of Feb. 12, nursing student Mia Brown died after having a medical emergency at the rec center.

Contributing: Sarah Al-Arshani, Jorge L. Ortiz, USA TODAY