Colorado Springs, Colorado – Friends, fellow students, and neighbors of the victims of the recent tragedy at the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs are grappling with the news of an arrest in connection with the murders.
24-year-old Samuel Knopp and 26-year-old Celie Rain Montgomery were found shot dead in a dormitory room at the university. Another student, 25-year-old Nicholas Jordan of Detroit, was arrested with a warrant for two counts of first-degree murder.
The motive for the crime and the relationship between the three individuals has not been disclosed. The community is in shock, particularly after the recent loss of another student, Mia Brown, who passed away on campus following a medical emergency.
The university canceled classes on Monday and held a “healing walk” to honor the victims. Chancellor Jennifer Sobanet acknowledged that it had been a difficult week for the community.
Knopp, a senior studying music, was described as an accomplished guitar player and an extremely talented musician. He and Montgomery were found fatally shot in student residential housing.
The community has been left reeling from the recent tragedies, including the loss of Mia Brown and a horrific murder-suicide just a few doors down from where Knopp lived. As the community continues to grapple with the trauma, therapy dogs and counseling were made available to members of the university community.
Colorado Springs, where a shooter killed five and injured more than 20 others in an LGBTQ+ nightclub attack 15 months ago, continues to mourn innocent victims killed by gun violence.