A man accused of trying to murder a University of Colorado Colorado Springs student in January was found with thousands of rounds of live ammunition and several firearms inside his home years before the shooting incident, court documents show.

Jonathan Sovine, a 25-year-old who was a former student, was arrested on suspicion of being responsible for the Jan. 12 shooting, which happened outside the dormitory building Antero Hall after a dispute between Sovine and a student. In February 2024, Colorado Springs police filed a temporary extreme risk protection order petition against Sovine, who was diagnosed with schizophrenia, saying he posed a “significant risk of causing personal injury to (him)self or others.”

Court documents show the petition was granted but eventually vacated in March 2025.

An attorney who is part of the team prosecuting Sovine also alleged in court Thursday that the defendant has a history of making threats against the university’s administration.

More of Sovine’s past

According to the petition, Sovine, a man with no criminal history, had been self-medicating by using marijuana and hallucinogenic mushrooms. He told officers he’s been dealing with seizures, people chasing him, lack of sleep and “weird” demonic possessions that make him feel like his father killed his family.

Sovine allegedly threatened to kill his father in front of officers, who responded to his Colorado Springs apartment complex after a resident called dispatch and said a suspicious man was carrying an AK-47 style of rifle around the complex.

Officers placed Sovine under a medical hold and found a handgun and a 12-gauge shotgun inside his car. Sovine also permitted them to enter his apartment, where officers found an estimated several thousand rounds of live ammunition inside.

In total, five firearms belonging to Sovine were found by police. One gun, an AR-15 style of rifle, was not recovered at the time.

Sovine’s parents told officers that their son’s behavior had taken a noticeable turn after he was medically discharged from the Marines on 100% disability in July 2023 due to a head/neck injury he sustained while in boot camp, the petition states.

The parents said Sovine has also had several concussions in his life, and their son’s behavior almost immediately turned violent after he had another one in November 2023.

Sovine’s behavior, along with the items found inside his vehicle and home, led police to document in the petition that there are “clear” pre-indicators that he could do something violent.

A resident at Sovine’s apartment complex previously told The Gazette that Sovine’s strange and violent behavior didn’t stop, recalling a couple of encounters with him in the months before the shooting at UCCS.

Competency questions

Sovine’s competency to stand trial has been questioned by his defense counsel, which filed a motion for a mental health evaluation in February that was granted by 4th Judicial District Judge Eric Bentley, according to The Scribe, the UCCS student newspaper.

Defense attorney Stephanie Lalonde told Bentley Thursday that Sovine was accepted into several mental health programs, including one with a Department of Veterans Affairs office in Wyoming.

Sovine appeared before Bentley Thursday to address a request to reduce his $500,000 bond. Bentley denied the motion because of Sovine’s history and his potential to be a flight risk.

The ruling made it unlikely that Sovine would be sent to Wyoming because the program had asked the judge to make an independent ruling on the bond reduction before finalizing his stay at the facility, according to Lalonde.

Sovine is scheduled for an arraignment hearing in August, when he will have the chance to enter his plea. Lalonde indicated Thursday that the defense was negotiating with prosecutors about a potential plea deal.