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Colleges nationwide on edge after 4 campus homicides in 10 days

Published

2 years ago

February 27, 2024

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Colleges nationwide on edge after 4 campus homicides in 10 days

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U.S. colleges are on edge after four people were killed in three separate on-campus incidents in Kentucky, Georgia and Colorado over just 10 days.

Most recently, Campbellsville University student Charles Escalera, 21, was charged with murder and burglary in connection with the Feb. 24 death of Josiah Kilman, 18, of Columbia Falls, Montana. Both students were on the school’s wrestling team.

“There are no words strong enough to mend the broken hearts of this family right now. We are all truly in shock at the abrupt and unexpected loss of Josiah and we are asking for an abundance of prayers for them as they grapple with this devastating tragedy,” reads the description of a GoFundMe page for Kilman titled “Josiah Kilman’s Family in Need of Love and Support.”

The Taylor County Coroner’s Office said Kilman died of asphyxia by manual strangulation, according to preliminary autopsy results, though it remains unclear exactly how the 18-year-old was killed.

KENTUCKY COLLEGE STUDENT STRANGLED WRESTLER IN DORM ROOM, CHARGED WITH MURDER: POLICE

Campbellsville University student Charles Escalera, 21, was charged with murder and burglary in connection with the Feb. 24 death of Josiah Kilman, 18, of Columbia Falls, Montana. Both students were on the school’s wrestling team. (Green County Sheriff/Facebook)

Two days before Kilman’s alleged murder, an Augusta University nursing student named Laken Riley, 22, was killed on Feb. 22 while she was out for a jog along a dirt trail on the University of Georgia’s campus in Athens.

UGA authorities arrested Jose Antonio Ibarra, a 26-year-old illegal immigrant from Venezuela, in connection with her murder on Feb. 23. Ibarra is charged with malice murder, felony murder, aggravated battery, aggravated assault, false imprisonment, kidnapping, hindering a 911 call and concealing the death of another.

LAKEN RILEY MURDER SUSPECT LIVED WITHIN 5-MINUTE WALK OF UGA CRIME SCENE

University of Georgia murder suspect Jose Ibarra lived within a five-minute walk of the approximate scene where he allegedly murdered 22-year-old nursing student Laken Riley on Feb. 22. (Mark Sims for Fox News Digital/Laken Riley/Jose Ibarra)

Riley died of blunt force trauma, UGA Police Chief Clark said during a Friday evening press conference announcing Ibarra’s arrest.

Ibarra lived in an apartment complex located within a five-minute walk of the approximate crime scene with his brother, Diego Ibarra, who has been charged with green card fraud. Diego was hired as a temporary dishwasher for one of UGA’s dining halls after presenting a fake green card to the school; he has since been fired.

LAKEN RILEY MURDER SUSPECT’S BROTHER FIRED FROM UGA AFTER PRESENTING FAKE PASSPORT

The area where Laken Riley’s body was found near Lake Herrick on the University of Georgia’s campus in Athens on Saturday, Feb. 24, 2024. Jose Antonio Ibarra has been charged with the murder. (Mark Sims for Fox News Digital)

“Laken’s adoration for caring went beyond her goal of becoming a nurse and allowed her to be an extraordinary nanny for two young children. Her smile was extremely infectious and spread to others everywhere she went,” Riley’s obituary reads. “She was devoted to serving the Lord. She was always involved with her church, Woodstock City Church. Her love for spreading God’s word led her to attend countless mission trips. Her love for the Lord was exemplified in every aspect of her life.”

“Laken was an amazing daughter, sister, friend and an overall extraordinary person.”
— Laken Riley obituary

About a week prior to Riley’s murder, two people were shot to death on the University of Colorado at Colorado Spring campus on Feb. 16. UCCS student Samuel Knopp, 24, of Parker, Colorado, and Celie Rain Montgomery, 26, of Pueblo, Colorado, were found dead in a campus dorm room.

On Feb. 19, Colorado Springs police arrested Nicholas Jordan, of Detroit, Michigan, in connection with Knopp’s and Montgomery’s murders.

UCCS previously told Fox News that Jordan was enrolled at the school at the time of the shooting. He is charged with two counts of first-degree murder.

BROTHER OF COLORADO DORM MURDERS SUSPECT BREAKS SILENCE: ‘AIN’T REAL’

Knopp and Jordan lived in the same dormitory suite with one other man, who contacted police to report a shooting on Feb. 16. The third roommate told police that he and Knopp “had to report Nicholas Jordan for unsafe living conditions and smoking in the room,” according to an affidavit. In January, Knopp and Jordan allegedly got into an argument over a trash bag.

Nicholas Jordan, 25, has been arrested in connection with the killing of two people inside a University of Colorado dorm. (Colorado Springs Police Department)

“Mr. Jordan threatened Knopp and told him that he would ‘kill him’ and there would be consequences if Mr. Jordan was asked to take out the trash again,” the affidavit filed in El Paso County states.

Colorado prosecutors later said Jordan had an AK-47-style rifle and a handgun in his vehicle when he was apprehended on Feb. 19.

COLORADO UNIVERSITY DORM MURDER SUSPECT ‘STILL POSES A THREAT,’ PROSECUTION WARNS JUDGE

The schools reporting homicides in the last 10 days have noted measures they have taken to ensure student safety since the three separate incidents unfolded.

In a Saturday statement following Ibarra’s swift arrest in connection with Riley’s murder, for example, UGA President Jere Morehead said the university approved “the launch of some new initiatives related to more lighting, more cameras” on campus just last week.

Laken Riley, a nursing student, poses for a photo posted to Facebook. (Allyson Phillips/Facebook)

The university said it has invested $16 million over eight years to “hire more police personnel, design and install an extensive security camera network, enhance lighting, establish a nightly rideshare program, and create a widely used UGA Safe app.” Morehead will be meeting with campus police this week in an effort to get their insight on additional measures that may be taken to ensure student safety.

But parents, students and community members are demanding more answers.

Laken Riley smiles for a photo while running. (Laken Riley/Instagram)

“Why are there no police patrolling the campus on foot, on horseback or on trolleys? Why are there not secure transportation/escorts to move students from classrooms to parking lots, especially during testing when exams are scheduled at NIGHTS?” Marlene Clark wrote in an email to Morehead with Fox News Digital CC’d. “Why are so many of the streets so dark? THIS IS A COLLEGE TOWN! Why are there so many unattended empty lots and vacant buildings on or close to campus? My daughter’s parking requires her to walk past a run down garage with questionable activities.”

“Those who knew Laken are suffering and scared.”
— Marlene Clark

Clark continued: “Those who knew Laken are suffering and scared, the parents of children who had to go back today are suffering along with them and scared. I do not trust this arrest as no motive was given. It seems like the lowest hanging fruit was selected to shut us up.”

In a comment on a Facebook post UCCS shared following Knopp’s and Motgomery’s murders, Facebook user Matt Schwabe said school “administrators failed to protect these victims.”

“Almost ignoring their repeated pleas for assistance,” he wrote. “You further failed the remaining students by allowing them to assemble on campus, knowing an armed and dangerous person was still on the loose and whereabouts unknown. By the grace of God, police found the suspect hours before the assembly. When apprehended, he was found to be in possession of a fully loaded assault rifle and handgun, a couple miles from the school. Shameful.”

Fox News’ Chris Eberhart, Michael Ruiz, Bill Melugin, and Haley Chi-Sing contributed to this report.

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Southeast

Dem governor under fire after illegal alien allegedly stabs woman to death at bus stop: ‘Heinous’

Published

9 hours ago

February 28, 2026

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Dem governor under fire after illegal alien allegedly stabs woman to death at bus stop: ‘Heinous’

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EXCLUSIVE: The Department of Homeland Security is calling on Virginia’s Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger to ensure local law enforcement cooperates with federal immigration officials by handing over an illegal immigrant with a lengthy criminal record who allegedly killed a woman earlier this week at a Virginia bus stop.

Police in Fairfax County, Virginia, arrested an illegal immigrant from Sierra Leone earlier this week on charges of second-degree murder after he allegedly fatally stabbed a woman, Stephanie Minter, 41, who was found dead at a local bus stop with several wounds to the upper body.

The alleged suspect, Abdul Jalloh, 32, also has a criminal history of more than 30 arrests, according to DHS, including for rape, malicious wounding, assault, identity theft, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, assault and pick-pocketing.

The request from the Trump administration comes after the newly elected Democratic governor of Virginia signed an executive order to end cooperation between federal immigration officials and state and local law enforcement, a move several Democratic Party governors have taken recently amid President Donald Trump’s move to increase deportation operations around the country.

The DHS request asking Virginia officials to cooperate with ICE also comes after an illegal immigrant allegedly murdered someone just days after being released from jail for a separate crime in December.

Abdul Jalloh, 32, and Gov. Abigail Spanberger (Department of Homeland Security/Getty Images)

“We are calling on Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger and Virginia’s sanctuary politicians to commit to not releasing this murderer and violent career criminal from their jail without notifying ICE,” said Deputy Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis.

“This illegal alien’s murder of an innocent, beautiful American woman came less than 24 hours before Governor Spanberger’s demonization of ICE law enforcement. This heinous criminal is a perfect example of why we need cooperation from sanctuary jurisdictions and the importance of third country removals for the safety of the American people.”

Spanberger’s representatives did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Jalloh entered the United States illegally in 2012, according to DHS, and immigration officials lodged an immigration detainer against him in 2020, whereupon he was granted a final order of removal by a judge who said he could be removed to any country other than Sierra Leone.

ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT WITH PRIOR DEPORTATION SHOOTS DEPUTY IN CHEST, DIES AFTER EXCHANGE: DHS

Protesters, using whistles to alert neighborhoods to ICE activity, face off with Minneapolis police officers in Minneapolis Jan. 24, 2026. (Roberto Schmidt/AFP via Getty Images)

DHS indicated that ICE cooperation to ensure Jalloh’s deportation is evident after a case Fox News covered in December when a criminal illegal alien from El Salvador, Marvin Morales-Ortez, 23, allegedly killed a man just a day after Fairfax County jail officials let him go.

The immigrant from El Salvador had been in custody on charges of malicious wounding and brandishing a gun, but police released him after the Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office, led by George Soros-backed prosecutor Steve Descano, dropped the charges.

Fox News Digital reached out to the Fairfax County Sheriff’s office to inquire about why the man had not been handed over to ICE.

The sheriff’s office said, “ICE was aware of Morales-Ortez’s incarceration and elected not to seek a judicial warrant to ensure he remained in custody.

Marvin Morales-Ortez, who is living in the country illegally, was released from Fairfax County custody and then allegedly committed a murder the next day. (Fairfax County Police Department/Getty Images)

“The Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office follows all local, state and federal laws when determining whether a person is subject to release from the ADC,” the sheriff’s office told Fox News Digital at the time. “Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is automatically notified any time a person is booked into the ADC.”

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The same sheriff’s office did not get back to Fox News Digital’s media inquiry for this story on DHS urging officials to cooperate with federal officials.

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Southeast

Illegal immigrant arrested after showing up to Florida Border Patrol office for contract IT work

Published

21 hours ago

February 27, 2026

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Illegal immigrant arrested after showing up to Florida Border Patrol office for contract IT work

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FIRST ON FOX: An illegal immigrant who reported to a U.S. Border Patrol site in Florida to perform some Information technology contractual work was arrested when authorities were made aware of his citizenship status, officials said.

Angel Camacho, a Venezuelan citizen, reported to a USBP center in Dania Beach, Florida, Jan. 6 to do some IT work when U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials began vetting him, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) told Fox News Digital.

During its investigation, it was revealed Camacho was in violation of U.S. immigration laws, authorities said.

Angel Camacho reported to a Florida U.S. Border Patrol center to perform contractual work when he was arrested, a Department of Homeland Security official said. (Getty Images )

“CBP vets all external visitors before allowing them to enter secure facilities to ensure safety and operational integrity,” DHS Deputy Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis said in a statement.

“During the vetting process, CBP uncovered this individual was a tourist visa overstay in the country for over five years.”

SCHUMER, DEMS AGAIN BLOCK DHS FUNDING, FORCE STATE OF THE UNION SHOWDOWN

This photo shows a U.S. Border Patrol patch on a border agent’s uniform in McAllen, Texas, Jan. 15, 2019. (Suzanne CordeiroAFP via Getty Images)

Camacho was arrested and transferred to ICE custody, Bis said.

His criminal history includes theft and resisting a Florida Highway Patrol officer, officials said. Federal authorities have nabbed several illegal immigrants in the process of trying to obtain employment in law enforcement and education.

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One Sierra Leone citizen was recently arrested as he was training to become a Pennsylvania corrections officer.

Another illegal immigrant, Ian Roberts, served as the former superintendent of Iowa’s largest district, Des Moines Public Schools, before he was arrested by ICE.

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Southeast

High school teacher arrested in alleged sex case involving student

Published

2 days ago

February 26, 2026

Press Room

High school teacher arrested in alleged sex case involving student

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A Georgia high school teacher was arrested Wednesday after allegations of inappropriate contact between a teacher and a minor student surfaced at Lee County High School.

Danielle Weaver, 29, of Leesburg, is charged with child molestation and improper sexual contact by an employee, agent or foster parent, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigations (GBI).

Lee County High School requested the Leesburg Police Department investigate the allegations on Feb. 3, and the GBI was called to assist the following day.

Danielle Weaver, 29, of Leesburg, Ga., is charged with child molestation and improper sexual contact by an employee. (Lee County Sheriff’s Office)

Investigators identified Weaver as the “subject,” and identified the victim as a student under 18 years old at Lee County High School, according to officials.

GBI agents continued the investigation along with the Leesburg Police Department, and arrest warrants were obtained for Weaver on Tuesday.

A Google Maps street view photo of Lee County High School in Leesburg, Ga. (Google Maps)

NEBRASKA TEACHER ALLEGEDLY OFFERED TO ‘SHARE’ BOYFRIEND WITH STUDENT IN SEX TRAFFICKING CASE

Weaver turned herself in to the Lee County Sheriff’s Office on Wednesday, and was later released on bond, according to a report from WALB News.

This investigation is active and ongoing, according to the GBI.

The incident allegedly happened at a high school in Georgia. (Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

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Once complete, the case file will be given to the Southwestern Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office for prosecution.

Leesburg is located in South Georgia, and is about an hour and a half north of Tallahassee, Florida.

Lee County High School’s communications team did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Alexandra Koch is a Fox News Digital journalist who covers breaking news, with a focus on high-impact events that shape national conversation.

She has covered major national crises, including the L.A. wildfires, Potomac and Hudson River aviation disasters, Boulder terror attack, and Texas Hill Country floods.

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