Suspect in Colorado Springs college killings was a roommate of 1 of the 2 victims, police say

By Andi Babineau, Cindy Von Quednow and Jason Hanna, CNN

(CNN) — A University of Colorado at Colorado Springs student who is accused of fatally shooting two people in a dormitory at the college last week was a roommate of one of the victims, a police spokesperson said Tuesday, the day that bond was set at $5 million for the suspect.

Nicholas Jordan, 25, of Detroit, was arrested Monday in Colorado Springs on murder charges in connection with Friday’s killings at the university of Samuel Knopp, 24, and Celie Rain Montgomery, 26, police said.

Jordan made his first court appearance Tuesday in Colorado’s El Paso County, and a judge set a cash-only bond at $5 million. Jordan did not enter a plea in Tuesday’s hearing, and CNN has sought comment from Jordan’s public defender.

Jordan was Knopp’s roommate, Colorado Springs police spokesperson Ira Cronin told CNN on Tuesday before the court hearing, without elaborating.

“Other aspects of their relationship is tied to our ongoing investigation and we don’t be revealing that at this time,” Cronin said.

Police, who have not detailed a motive in the deaths, had previously said Knopp, of Parker, Colorado, was a student at the university like Jordan was, and that Montgomery, of Pueblo, Colorado, was not a student there.

In arguing for a $5 million bond during Tuesday’s court hearing, a deputy district attorney said he believes Jordan poses a threat to witnesses in the case and to the public. Investigators also had indications that Jordan tried to leave Colorado after the killings, the deputy district attorney, Robert Willet, said.

Jordan is set to appear in court on Friday for a filing of charges, bond argument and possible release of an affidavit in the case, the court said in a post on X.

Authorities said they learned of the shooting Friday, when campus police received a call just before 6 a.m. about shots fired in a dormitory. University police reached the dorm at 6:05 a.m., where they found two people dead, Cronin said. Each had suffered at least one gunshot wound.

On Friday evening, Colorado Springs police obtained an arrest warrant for Jordan accusing him of two counts of first-degree murder, police said, without saying how they identified Jordan as a suspect.

Police arrested Jordan in Colorado Springs on Monday morning after finding him in a vehicle, authorities said.

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