Colorado university hires 2 former U.S. attorneys to review shooting, recommend any changes
DENVER — The University of Colorado, where a student is accused of killing his suitemate and another person in a dorm room last month, has hired two former U.S. attorneys to review what led to the shooting and recommend whether its policies and campus procedures need to be changed.
John Suthers, who most recently served as mayor of Colorado Springs, and Jason Dunn, have been tapped to conduct the review following the Feb. 16 shooting at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs.
A summary of key findings and recommendations will be released, and the university’s emergency management team can then work on any proposed changes, Chancellor Jennifer Sobanet said in an email sent to campus Thursday and provided to The Associated Press on Monday released.
Nicholas Jordan, 25, is accused of killing Samuel Knopp, 24, a senior who was studying music, and his friend Celie Rain Montgomery, 26, a mother of two who loved to sing. Authorities have not revealed a motive, but the shooting occurred about a month after Jordan allegedly threatened to kill Knopp amid an ongoing dispute over living conditions in their shared living space, according to Jordan’s arrest affidavit.
Another suitemate told investigators that he and Knopp had made multiple complaints about Jordan’s “cleanliness of the living area” and his marijuana and cigarette smoke. The death threat came after Knopp collected some trash in a bag and placed it near the door of Jordan’s bedroom in the capsule-style dormitory, which included a shared living room and individual bedrooms, the other suitemate said.
“Mr. Jordan threatened Mr. Knopp and told him he would ‘kill’ him and that there would be consequences if Mr. Jordan was asked to take out the trash again,” police said in the document.
The dispute was reported to campus police and housing officials in early January, but there is no indication in the document that university officials made any attempt to remove the suspect from the suite, despite multiple reports of conflict, including the threat.
The university has declined to say whether it has taken any action on the issues, citing the ongoing criminal investigation and federal student privacy laws.
Jordan, a junior who had studied accounting in college, is charged with two counts of first-degree murder.
Jordan has not yet been asked to enter a plea and his prosecution has been put on hold due to concerns about his mental health. Last week, at the request of Jordan’s lawyer, a judge ordered that Jordan’s mental competency be assessed by a psychologist.
The University of Colorado-Colorado Springs has approximately 11,000 students. Founded in 1965, it began as a division of the University of Colorado at Boulder, the state’s premier public university. It was recognized as an independent college in 1974.