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UCCS shooting suspect’s affidavit paints killing as stemming from roommate dispute

The man accused in the University of Colorado Colorado Springs double homicide made a death threat against one of the victims over roommate disagreements, according to his arrest affidavit. 

Nicholas Jordan, 25, is accused of killing his roommate and fellow UCCS student Samuel Knopp, 24, as well as Celie Rain Montgomery, 26, in the early morning hours of Feb. 16 in Crestone House, a dormitory in the Alpine Village community on UCCS campus. 

Accused UCCS shooter makes first appearance in court, bond reduction request denied

Judge David Shakes on Friday granted the release of the arrest affidavit and denied a motion by the defense to have trial coverage restricted due to its argument that publicity would affect the case.

Jordan was found Monday in a vehicle about 3 miles west of campus and arrested without incident.

The affidavit paints a picture of a disgruntled roommate situation that turned deadly. 

Click or tap here to see the full affidavit.

The dorm room where the deaths occurred was a pod arrangement, with four individual bedrooms with locking doors, organized around a common area. Per the arrest affidavit document, one of the other pod residents made the initial call to police about the shooting at 5:59 a.m. The roommate said he had been woken by the sound of gunfire “and the immediate sound of a person moaning.” 

The roommate said he heard a door shut and what sounded like someone running. He said he immediately called campus police and stayed in his room until they arrived.

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Officers who entered Knopp’s bedroom reported that Knopp and Montgomery had “multiple penetrating injuries to the torso” and were “obviously deceased.” 

Officers checked the secured door logs to the dormitory, and found that someone with Jordan’s access card had entered the building through a secure door at 2:53 a.m. and left at 5:42 a.m.

Security cameras in the area also showed someone wearing dark clothes entering and then running out of the dorm, corresponding to the door access log. 

A Police Department license-plate-reader camera also detected a vehicle owned by Jordan traveling south on Corporate Drive, northwest of the UCCS campus, at 7:47 a.m. that same morning.

The third roommate told detectives that Knopp had reported Jordan to university officials several times for smoking in the room and cleanliness issues. The third roommate said he had heard Jordan threaten to kill Knopp over these disagreements. Specifically, the third roommate said that in January the two had quarreled about a bag of trash that Knopp had collected and placed near Jordan’s door.

Jordan then threatened Knopp and said he would “kill him.” Jordan also warned of consequences if he was asked to take the trash out again. 

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Affidavit

UCCS police and UCCS housing reportedly told investigators that there had been three documented complaints and interactions involving Jordan. 

University records show that Jordan had filed to be withdrawn from classes and housing on Feb. 15, roughly 14½ hours before the two deaths. 


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