UCCS student Samuel Knopp planned to move out the same day he was killed because he wanted to get away from the suspect, who had threatened to kill him a month prior, the arrest affidavit revealed.
The suspect, Nicholas Jordan, is being charged with two counts of first-degree murder for allegedly killing Knopp, 24, and Celie Rain Montgomery, 26, in a four-bedroom dorm room that Knopp shared with Jordan on the first floor of the Crestone building located in Alpine Village on Feb. 16.
In the affidavit released on Feb. 23, it was revealed there were three documented complaints and interactions between Jordan and his roommates filed earlier this year by UCCS Police and Housing on Jan. 9.
The final roommate in the residence, Giancarlo Argueta-Agudelo, told police that Jordan had told Knopp that he would “kill him” on Jan. 9, and there would be consequences if Jordan was asked to take out the trash again.
Other complaints involved concerns of unsafe living conditions and smoking in the room.
It is unknown if Jordan was facing any disciplinary actions from UCCS following the complaints and if there were any plans to remove Jordan from the dorm.
When asked on Feb. 23 what actions the university took after the complaints were filed, Chris Valentine, assistant vice chancellor of marketing and communication, said the university can not provide any further details related to the shooting, victims or the suspect because of FERPA protections, which limits UCCS’ ability to share student records, as well as to assist in the ongoing investigation.
“UCCS was consistent with all campus policies and procedures, including our housing policies, our Student Code of Conduct and our resolution process, prior to, during and after this incident,” Chancellor Jennifer Sobanet wrote in a campus-wide email that was sent out on Feb. 24.
The arrest affidavit also revealed that Jordan had withdrawn from UCCS housing and his classes on Feb. 15, a day before the shooting.
UCCS Instructor Jon Forshee noted in an article from the DailyMail that Knopp spoke to him Thursday evening before the shooting about moving out of his dorm room that Friday night because of problems he had with Jordan.
“I remember [Knopp] him saying I only have to deal with this one more day, then I’m out. Only one more day, Jon, then I’ll be in another dorm,” Forshee said.
The DailyMail article also mentioned Jordan had been kicked out of his previous residence at Lion Village Student Housing during the fall semester for allegedly selling drugs, harassing women and cursing out staff.
Despite its name, Lion Village Student Housing is a privately-owned nearby apartment complex located off Rockrimmon boulevard that is not owned by UCCS.
The staff and residents at Lion Village called Jordan “Slick Nick” because he was dealing drugs, a service manager said. The manager also said residents would often complain about him.
“He was trouble, he was bad news,” the manager said, “He came into the office quite a few times, yelling and screaming, f— this, f— that, getting into it with the manager. He was just verbally abusive to everybody.”
The staff gave Jordan warnings but said he went too far and kicked him out of his residence during the fall semester.
Elena Franco, a resident at Lion Village, lived next door to Jordan and is friends with his roommates. She said Jordan would go door-to-door asking people if they wanted drugs, and made other female residents uncomfortable. “I never felt physically in danger by him nor did any of my roommates, but he did make us uncomfortable,” she said.
“Nick knew that people were notifying Lion Village of him smoking, trying to sell drugs, catcalling girls and making them uncomfortable … he either wanted to hurt or kill whoever was filing these complaints or ‘snitched’ on him,” Franco said.
She doesn’t think management was made aware of his comment because no one wanted to get involved with Jordan and his anger.
Franco said Jordan had received a warning after the first few complaints were made about him, but no other action was taken because it wasn’t against the lease.
“Until he finally got kicked out, I think it was more of trying to stay away from his bad side until he was gone,” Franco said.
“I’m all for second chances for him being able to move to the campus apartments, but I think he should have been on probation or more heavily monitored when complaints were given about him, especially now that we know UCCS was aware of his roomates filing complaints,” Franco said.
Franco said Jordan asked someone to buy him a gun. “I believe after an argument with his roomates, he went back to Detroit where he got a gun and brought it back to UCCS,” she said.
Jordan was also reported to the UCCS Police on Aug. 8 for allegedly trying to break into rooms at the UC during break Eric Tschudy, a student who works for event services, said.
Tschudy encountered Jordan trying to use the Lion’s Byte Game Room, but it was closed at the time. He told Jordan it was closed, to which Jordan responded by shrugging his shoulders and grunting.
Jordan continued to linger around the game room, which prompted Tschudy to alert the person working at the information desk, who encountered Jordan and agreed that Jordan was acting suspicious. They then alerted UCCS Police.
“The way he was carrying himself around was like lights on but nobodies home … it gave me a weird feeling,” Tschudy said.
Upon looking for him, Tschudy caught Jordan attempting to break into locked rooms around the UC including Clyde’s Gastropub.
After the event, a follow-up report was sent to the University Police Operations email explaining what had happened and included the picture, name and email of Jordan.
A campus patrol sergeant, Lisa Dipzinski, responded via email. “Don’t hesitate to call if you see him acting suspiciously again in the future, and we will try and make contact with him,” she wrote.
Since the shooting, UCCS and the Colorado Springs Police Department have kept a lid on information about the case from going out, which Chief of Police Dewayne McCarver noted is to help aid in the ongoing investigation.
“When you start to disclose information that you know, it allows others out there who may be additional suspects to realize that maybe the investigation may be moving in their direction and evidence can be destroyed or moved — people hide, and that makes it very difficult,” McCarver said.
But many students have been upset by the lack of communication from the university. Student Body President Axel Brown expressed his disappointment on Feb. 20 in the way the university has communicated with students about the shooting.
“A lot of students are coming to Aidan [Clark (student body vice president)] and me regarding the situation — they wanted to know, they want it to be in the now, they wanted the information to protect their sanity and their security on campus,” Brown said.
Editor’s Note: This article was updated at 4:34 on Feb. 24.
Village at Alpine Valley. Photo by Lillian Davis.