Two bodies were found Friday in a dorm room at the University of Colorado’s Colorado Springs campus, and police said the incident appears to be isolated and are investigating it as a homicide, not a murder-suicide.
The Colorado Springs Police Department on Sunday identified the victims as Samuel Knopp, 24, of Parker, Colorado, and Celie Lane Montgomery, 26, of Pueblo, Colorado.
Police said Knopp was enrolled as a student at the university, but Montgomery was not.
Just before 6 a.m. Friday, university police received a report of shots fired from Crestone House, a campus residence hall.
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A police officer stands outside a dormitory at Alpine Valley Village Housing as police investigate a shooting at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs Campus on Friday, February 16, 2024 in Colorado Springs, Colorado. (Christian Murdoch/The Gazette, via AP)
Officers responded to the room and found a man and woman inside, later identified as Knopp and Montgomery, both deceased from a single gunshot wound to the head.
The campus was briefly placed on lockdown on Friday, but it was lifted almost an hour and a half later.
The campus was closed for the day following the shooting.
The Colorado Springs Police Department received a request for assistance, and the department’s Homicide Unit responded and took over the investigation.
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A police cruiser at a crime scene in Colorado Springs, Colorado. (Helen H. Richardson/Media News Group/Denver Post via Getty Images)
Autopsies were performed on the two bodies by the El Paso County Coroner’s Office, and the two victims were identified.
The coroner’s office is currently investigating the cause and manner of death, with both cases being investigated as homicides.
Police said Sunday that the main focus of the investigation is the victims and the pursuit of justice for them and their families.
The investigation remains active as detectives continue to uncover additional leads and details of potential suspects.
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“Given the active and fluid nature of this case, no additional information regarding these leads or details of potential suspects will be released at this time,” the department’s press release states.
The ministry also said that previous investigations showed that this was not just a random attack on other students at the school or university, but an isolated incident between parties who were known to each other.
“While we acknowledge the difficulty of the situation and the withholding of information at this early stage of the investigation, we have an obligation to the victim and her family to provide accountability and justice for this horrific act,” police said in a statement. Stated. “This is the third and fourth homicide in the city of Colorado Springs this year. This time last year we had two homicides.”
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Police ask anyone with information or witnesses to the investigation to contact them at 719-444-7000 or Crime Stoppers at 719-634-STOP (7867) or 1-800-222-8477 We recommend that you do so.
Fox News Digital’s Brie Stimson contributed to this report.
