By Jesse Bedayn and Colleen Slevin/AP
A student arrested in the deaths of two people who were found shot in a dorm room last week at a Colorado college was the roommate of one of the victims, police said Tuesday.
Nicholas Jordan, 25, is suspected of killing Samuel Knopp, 24, and Celie Rain Montgomery, 26, at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs on Friday.
Jordan lived with Knopp at the university about 69 miles (111 kilometers) south of Denver, Colorado Springs police spokeperson Caitlin Ford said. Ford did not know Montgomery’s relationship to the two men and did not have any information about what may have motivated the shooting.
Jordan was a student at the university at the time, university spokesperson Jenna Press. Knopp was also a student, but Montgomery was not enrolled, police said.
Jordan, who is from Detroit, was arrested Monday on suspicion of two counts of first-degree murder, according to jail records. Jordan is being represented by an attorney from the state public defender's office, according to court records. It does not comment on its cases. A hearing was scheduled for Tuesday afternoon.
After getting an arrest warrant, the police’s motor vehicle theft unit found Jordan in a car and the tactical enforcement unit took him into custody in Colorado Springs in a residential area that is about 3 miles (4.8 kilometers) from campus, police said.
According to police, the bodies of Knopp and Montgomery were found after shots were fired at around 6 a.m. Friday in Crestone House, a dorm in a complex that offers apartment-style living for undergraduates and graduate students. A lockdown across campus lasted for about 90 minutes before being scaled back to just the complex.
On Friday, police said the deaths appeared to be an “isolated incident” involving people who knew each other and not a random attack. They also said they did not think there was any “ongoing threat to the community."
Police also obtained an arrest warrant for Jordan late Friday but did not reveal that he was a suspect until announcing his arrest on Monday.
Police acknowledged Sunday that they intentionally restricted the information released to the public during the first 48 hours of the investigation.
Dozens gathered for a memorial walk Monday at the school, which is home to more than 11,000 students and nearly 2,000 faculty and staff.
