Iowa State students from Fort Dodge say they were shocked to learn that two Fort Dodge men are the target of a nationwide manhunt in connection with last weekend’s slaying of 19-year-old Uri Sellers.

Warrants for Michael Ron Runyan, 20, and Lucas Joseph Abrams, 18, were issued Thursday. Police say Runyan stabbed Sellers to death early Sunday morning.

Both men attended Fort Dodge High School, a school of about 1,200 students. Both Abrams and Runyan were supposed to graduate in 1996, according to former Fort Dodge High School students. Abrams also attended St. Edmund’s High School, a Catholic school in Fort Dodge, early in his high school years, one former student said.

A Fort Dodge High School official, who asked not be identified, said Abrams dropped out of school several times and never graduated.

“I’d say the students liked him fairly well. He was a likable kid,” the official said. The official was not familiar with Runyan.

Several ISU students from Fort Dodge said they know Abrams and Runyan.

“I’m kind of shocked that they’re from Fort Dodge. That’s the last thing I expected,” said Matthew Thompson, a junior in agriculture studies who knows both men.

Thompson’s brother Dan Thompson, a freshman in agriculture studies, said he has known Runyan since middle school and Abrams since elementary school.

“I knew both of them. They both were always in trouble. Luke was always picking fights,” he said. “I talked to Mike a couple times. He was always pleasant, a very nice guy.”

Dan Thompson said Sellers’ murder is a tragedy, and he hopes Runyan and Abrams are punished if they are responsible. “I think it’s too bad, but if they’re guilty I hope they get everything they have coming,” he said. “All I know is that it’s a shame. If they did what they did, I don’t feel sorry for them at all.”

Mike Reed, a freshman in computer science, said he has known Abrams since grade school and also knows Runyan “very well.” Reed said the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation has advised him not to comment.

Other ISU students from Fort Dodge said it’s hard to believe the murder suspects are from their hometown.

“I was surprised to hear they were people from Fort Dodge. It’s pretty surprising that people from Fort Dodge would do something like this,” said Amy Albrecht, a senior in special education.”

One former ISU student from Fort Dodge, who asked not be identified, said she saw Runyan on Welch Avenue Saturday afternoon. She said she and her friends were surprised he was in Ames.

Another ISU student from Fort Dodge, who also asked not to be identified, said she wasn’t surprised. The student said she knew both men.

“Abrams was a wrestler and a troublemaker. Mike has been in trouble, too,” she said. “That’s so crazy. That [being suspects] doesn’t surprise me, though. Fort Dodge is a rough town.”