The night was filled with sirens and scattered investigators around the UCCS family development center Wednesday, August 29th, 2018. At around 9:56 p.m,  19- year-old Jordan Coleman was shot and killed. The Colorado Springs Police Department arrested the suspected killer, 22-year-old Micahi Stacey Hughes Thursday, August 30, 2018; he is facing charges of first-degree murder.

Coleman, also referred to as Texas amongst his friends, was rushed to the Penrose-Saint Francis Hospital, where he died of a gunshot wound. Not much is known about the victim yet, besides that he was not a UCCS student. A close friend of his, UCCS student Parmiss Mahdav, gave insight on his life before his death.

Mahdavi stated that she and Coleman were supposed to meet up the night of the incident for an early birthday celebration for Coleman.

“He was gonna turn 20 this upcoming Wednesday, September 5th,” said Mahdavi.

Mahdavi was studying at the UCCS Kraemer Family Library during the incident but was not aware of Coleman’s presence near the Family Development Center. They were communicating via the social media app Snapchat a few hours before his death.

“Then I sent him another snap saying, ‘I’m done where ya at?’  I don’t think he ever got them,” concluded Mahdavi.

The UCCS FDC is located at 1425 Austin Bluffs Parkway in Colorado Springs, an area where the CSPD recorded two other shooting incidents on the same night in 2017.

In fact, the weekend of October 30th, 2017 was a deadly one for the Austin Bluffs area. On Sunday, October 30th, 2017 at 2 a.m, 16-year-old District 11 student Nate Winters lost his life to a gunshot in the parking lot of Albertacos, located at 4494 Austin Bluffs Parkway. Winters passed away the same night as a triple shooting at a house party in 3800 Soft Breeze Way, near Austin Bluffs. This uprising of homicides leaves the question of whether southern Colorado Springs could be considered “dangerous.” According to CSPD data, Winter’s death marked the 24th homicide report of 2017, and Coleman’s death marked the 21st report of 2018.

The UCCS is relatively close to the USAFA where Air Academy High School is located. With school shootings taking place across the nation, and with the college shootings, AAHS Security guards Jason Jenks and Aaron Baker discussed security on the AAHS campus.

Baker noted how high school security is not composed of sworn-to-law officers like UCCS. This gives them less power than the security at UCCS, however they provide sufficient staffing for security.

“(We provide) exterior patrol checks to try to catch any potential suspect before they even enter the school,” Jenks stated, “so there is always 2 security guards in the school at all times and at least one outside.”

Despite the chaos within the rest of the city, we can count on the AAHS security staff for keeping the high school a safe zone.

The CSPD requests for anyone with additional information about the UCCS FDC shooting or witnesses of the incident to reach out and call the non-emergency line at 719-444-700.