On the morning of February 16, 2024, gunfire was reported at the Crestone House dormitory on the University of Colorado Colorado Springs campus. Responding officers found 26-year-old Celie Rain Montgomery of Pueblo and 24-year-old student Samuel Knopp dead in a dorm room, both having sustained fatal gunshot wounds. Their deaths were investigated as homicides.

Montgomery, a mother of a 7-year-old daughter and a 5-year-old son, worked as a freelance copywriter focused on health and wellness and enjoyed singing, yoga, reading, and research. She was not enrolled at the university; Knopp was a registered student.

Investigators said the incident appeared to be isolated and involved people who knew one another. An arrest warrant was issued for 25-year-old Nicholas Jordan, reportedly a roommate of Knopp, and he was taken into custody by Colorado Springs police on February 19, 2024. The university held a Day of Healing and Montgomery’s family asked for privacy while they mourned.