Colorado Springs, CO – Community members in Colorado Springs, Colorado, were left reeling on Monday after news of an arrest in connection with the murders of two University of Colorado-Colorado Springs students, Samuel Knopp and Celie Rain Montgomery. The arrest came as the community was still mourning other recent tragedies.
Knopp, 24, and Montgomery, 26, were found shot dead in a dormitory room at the university, where Knopp was a senior studying music. Another UCCS student, 25-year-old Nicholas Jordan, was arrested Monday with a warrant for two counts of first-degree murder. Officials revealed that Jordan was Knopp’s roommate at the time of the shooting. The shooter is currently being held in El Paso County Jail on a $1m bond, with his first court date set for Tuesday at 1.30pm MST.
The relationship between the trio and a motive for the shooting have not been disclosed. Montgomery, who was not enrolled at the university, was a mother of two young children from Pueblo.
Classes were canceled at UCCS on Monday as the community held a “healing walk” beginning at a campus dining hall. In a statement following news of the shootings, Chancellor Jennifer Sobanet acknowledged the loss of Mia Brown, a nursing student who died on campus following a medical emergency at the Recreation Center.
Then, four days later, Knopp and Montgomery were found fatally shot at Crestone House in the Alpine Village area of student residential housing. The Colorado Springs Police Department quickly said the victims were believed to have known the suspect, emphasizing it was “not a random attack against the school or other students at the university.”
Knopp was described as “an accomplished guitar player and an extremely talented musician.” He grew up in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and had been working on his bachelors degree in music theory at the University of Colorado.
Neighbors in shock on Monday as news of the student’s death came just weeks after a horrific murder-suicide just a few doors down from the Knopp residence. At the UCCS campus, therapy dogs and counseling were available to members of the university community.
As Colorado Springs continues to reel from innocent victims killed by gun violence, the community tries to come to terms with yet another senseless tragedy.