Nicholas Jordan, student charged in fatal Colorado shooting, threatened roommate over trash
Nicholas Jordan, the 25-year-old student charged with fatally shooting his roommate and another person in a University of Colorado dorm, told his roommate he would "kill him" during an argument over taking out the trash, according to an affidavit.
Jordan faces two counts of first degree murder in the deaths of Samuel Knopp, Jordan's 24-year-old roommate and a registered student at the university, and Celie Rain Montgomery, 26, who was not enrolled.
Police arrived at Jordan's dorm at the university's Colorado Springs campus at around 6 a.m. on Feb. 16 in response to a call from another roommate who told police he woke up to the sounds of gunshots and "the immediate sound of a person moaning," according to the affidavit.
The roommate told a detective he and Knopp repeatedly reported Jordan to the university for smoking marijuana and cigarettes in the dorm and for "unsafe living conditions." In January, Jordan threatened to kill Knopp after Knopp placed a bag of trash near Jordan's door and asked him to take it out, the student said.
Knopp and Montgomery were found inside the dorm room and pronounced dead at the scene.
Surveillance video captured "a person in dark clothing" running out of the dorm's entrance minutes before officers arrived, according to police. The shooting sent the campus into lockdown for hours over fears of an active shooter.
Officers have not released information about whether Montgomery knew Knopp or Jordan.
Jordan was arrested Monday less than 3 miles from campus. He is booked in the El Paso County Jail on $5 million bond.
A judge increased Jordan's bond by $4 million after prosecutor Robert Willett argued he is a safety risk because he could be attempting to flee the state and had a gun when he was arrested.
Jordan appeared Friday morning before a judge in El Paso County Court. A status conference is scheduled for March 15.
The university told police Jordan filed a request to withdraw from all his classes and housing at the university less than 24 hours before the shooting, according to the affidavit.
Universities mourn students' deaths
The campus, around 5 miles north of downtown Colorado Springs, was closed last weekend in response to the shooting. Dozens gathered for a memorial walk Monday, and classes were canceled.
Knopp was a senior studying music and an "accomplished guitar player," Jennifer Sobanet, the university's chancellor, wrote in an email to students and faculty after the shooting. "Celie, although she was not a student, will be mourned by our campus community," she wrote.
A spokesperson for Pueblo Community College confirmed Montgomery was a student in the school's culinary arts program.
"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," President Patty Erjavec wrote.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Colorado shooting suspect Nicholas Jordan had threatened roommate
