Cartridge casings found in a University Colorado Colorado Springs dorm room, where a student and a woman were found fatally shot in February, matched the alleged shooter’s handgun, which police found inside his car miles from campus, detectives testified in court Tuesday.
A fingerprint from Nicholas Jordan, who faces two counts of first-degree murder in the Feb. 16 shooting of his UCCS roommate Samuel Knopp and Celie Montgomery, also matched a print found on the magazine of the .40-caliber handgun, said Ed Crofoot, a homicide detective with the Colorado Springs police.
Police found Knopp, a 24-year-old student who was studying music, with eight gunshot wounds and Montgomery, 26, who was not a registered UCCS student, with four gunshot wounds, Crofoot said.
Tuesday’s hearing marked the first step forward in the school shooting case after Jordan’s attorneys raised questions over the 25-year-old’s competency to stand trial. In the nearly four-hour hearing Tuesday after a judge ruled him to be competent, Colorado Springs and university police officers revealed details of a possible motive in the shooting that rattled students and faculty and prompted outcries over the university’s firearm policy.
A series of arguments between Jordan and Knopp, who had been roommates since the fall 2023 semester, had created tension inside the on-campus apartment in the months leading up to the shooting, according to detectives. In an interview with police, another roommate described Jordan’s marijuana smoking as an “ongoing issue,” along with his habit of playing loud music during early-morning hours. Around Thanksgiving, another argument erupted over an overflowing toilet.
Arguments escalated the day before the shooting when Knopp confronted Jordan about not taking out the trash and said he would file a complaint with campus services about Jordan’s behavior, Crofoot said. Jordan warned “there would be consequences” if he did so, then threatened: “I’ll kill you,” Crofoot said, recounting the third roommate’s account of the conversation.
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Knopp and another roommate sharing the apartment had filled out an application to move into another on campus apartment, he said.
A UCCS police officer testified that he arrived at the apartment just after 6:05 a.m. after receiving a call from one of the roommates who said he heard between six and nine gunshots.
Inside the room, the officer saw Montgomery and Knopp with fatal wounds.
Police arrested Jordan three days after the shooting when he was found inside his car, about 3 miles from campus. There was also an AK-47 rifle inside the car, Crofoot said.
Detectives found that Jordan purchased the handgun in Detroit 20 days before the shooting.
When interrogated by police, Jordan acted surprised to be accused in the double homicide and initially denied being on campus all semester, until detectives showed records that his key card was used to enter the apartment building about 20 minutes before the shooting, Crofoot said.
Jordan’s attorney raised the point that there were no eyewitnesses who saw Jordan fire a weapon or who saw him on campus that day and that Jordan did not admit to killing Knopp or Montgomery.
Fourteen hours before the shooting, Jordan emailed school officials asking to withdraw from his classes, Crofoot said.
A judge ruled there was probable cause to send Jordan’s case to trial. His next court appearance is scheduled for Oct. 25.