Colorado Springs police investigate college dorm shooting as double homicide

Two shooting deaths at the University of Colorado’s campus in Colorado Springs Friday morning are being investigated as a double homicide, police said.

On Sunday, Colorado Springs police identified the victims as Celie Rain Montgomery, 26 of Pueblo, Colorado, and Samuel Knopp, 24, of Parker, Colorado. Officials said Knopp was a registered student at the campus and Montgomery was not.

Police said detectives were working around the clock and developing additional investigative leads and suspect information.

“Given this case’s active and fluid nature, additional information about those leads and any potential suspect details will not be released at this time,” they said.

“Investigative efforts so far continue to indicate this is an isolated incident between parties that were known to one another and not a random attack against the school or other students at the university,” the statement continued.

Police on Friday said the shooting “does not appear to be a murder-suicide.”

Campus police received a call just before 6 a.m. about shots fired in a dormitory. University police reached the dorm at 6:05 a.m., where they found two people dead, Cronin said. Each had suffered at least one gunshot wound.

Homicide detectives took over the investigation and are working to piece together what happened and notify the next of kin, Cronin said.

Cronin said the official cause of death will be determined by the coroner’s office in the “next few days.”

CNN affiliate KKTV spoke to a student who was on campus when the shooting happened.

“I was shocked, honestly,” Adam Trujillo said. “I had woke up to an email from one of my teachers saying that there was a lockdown and to just be safe, lock the doors. And then I came out here to all these police cars and news people, and I was pretty shocked.”

Campus police and the Colorado Springs Police Department said the shooting was not an active shooter situation, but it led the campus to go into lockdown and dormitory residents were ordered to shelter in place for several hours.

“Lockdown! Lock interior doors,” an alert sent by campus police just after 7 a.m. stated. “Turn out the lights. Move away from sight. Do not open the door. Maintain silence. Evade/Defend.”

A few minutes later, university police posted there were no reports of an active shooter, but asked those on campus to shelter in place. Just before 8 a.m., police said everyone could leave campus except students at Alpine Village, a residence hall housing sophomore through graduate school students.

At 8:52 a.m., campus police said “there is no safety concern on campus” and the shelter-in-place order for Alpine Village was “due to an ongoing investigation.” The order was fully lifted at 9:36 a.m.

The campus was closed Saturday and Sunday. Classes have been canceled for Monday but the campus will be open for “support and healing,” the university announced.