DETROIT – A man used the “*67″ feature to try to hide his phone number while calling a Detroit training center nine times, officials said. During those calls, he demanded a student at the facility get an abortion, threatened to slap security guards, and said he would shoot up the building, authorities said.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives received a call May 2 from officials about an incident at the Detroit Job Corps Center. The DJCC is a labor equal opportunity employer program that furthers education and teaches job skills to enrollees between the ages of 16 and 24.
Recommended Videos
The DJCC offers room and board to students, and has about 300 students on campus at full capacity.
A criminal complaint describing this case was filed Tuesday (Aug. 2).
April 24 phone calls
Officials said multiple supervisors at the center received threatening phone calls from Elroy Jerome Knott, starting on April 24.
One supervisor said he was working the midnight shift when he received a phone call in the downstairs dormitory office from a student. The student said if he received any threatening phone calls, it was not from her, according to court records. She said she didn’t want to be evicted from the DJCC, officials said.
About five minutes later, at 12:58 a.m., the supervisor received a phone call from a restricted number, court records show. The caller said he was looking for the student who had just spoke to the supervisor, according to authorities.
The caller said, “Tell that b---- to go get an abortion, because I’m not taking care of that baby,” the criminal complaint says.
Detroit police later spoke to the student and learned that Knott is the father of her child, they said.
Knott also threatened to go to the DJCC, slap the security guard, and start shooting while looking for another student, according to authorities. That second student had previously been in an argument with the student Knott wanted to get an abortion, court records show.
Minutes later, a different DJCC employee received a restricted phone call in the upstairs dormitory office, officials said. The caller said he was going to shoot up the building and slap the security guard, the criminal complaint says. He also demanded the same student get an abortion, according to authorities.
A third phone call was received shortly afterward in the downstairs dormitory office, police said. The person who answered said the caller demanded to get the second student out of the center. He threatened to slap the security guard and shoot up the building if that student wasn’t evicted, authorities said.
The caller also stated again that the first student needed to get an abortion, court records show.
April 26 phone calls
A security guard at the facility learned that the first student had received a call from Knott on April 26, and that he was making threats, according to officials.
The security guard went to her dormitory and spoke with the student, who told him she was currently on the phone with Knott, the criminal complaint says.
The security guard identified himself to Knott on the student’s phone, and during the conversation, Knott accused the security guard of sleeping with the student, authorities said.
Knott threatened to go to the facility, “shoot the place up,” and shoot the security guard in the back of the head, court records show.
Knott told the security guard he was on his way to the facility to shoot him, according to officials.
The security guard said he recognized Knott’s voice as the caller who had made threatening phone calls two days prior.
After returning to the security booth, the guard received multiple calls from Knott, who said he was on his way to the DJCC, according to authorities.
Detroit police arrived at the facility at 11:01 p.m. They talked to the first student, who said she had known Knott for about one year. She said he was upset that she had enrolled in the DJCC and wanted her to be evicted, the complaint says.
She told police that Knott possessed seven guns, and that she had once seem him shoot into the air, officials said.
The student received a phone call from a restricted number while speaking to officers, and when she answered the phone, she put it on speaker, according to police.
She addressed Knott by his nickname, “Roy,” and he responded, acknowledging it was him, officers said. When she confronted him about calling the DJCC multiple times, Knott said, “I’ve only been calling today,” the criminal complaint says.
The facility was locked down for about 48 hours, police said. All doors and gates were locked, and students were not allowed to do any outside activities. Detroit police patrolled the areas linked to Knott, but didn’t find him, they said.
Phone records
ATF agents received T-Mobile phone records for Knott’s account on May 9.
Officials said Knott’s phone number had made three calls to the main line for the DJCC at 12:56 a.m., 12:58 a.m., and 1 a.m. Those calls were made using the “*67″ feature, which causes calls show up as restricted, according to authorities.
The timing of those calls matched when the employees at the DJCC had received threats, the criminal complaint says.
On April 26, Knott’s phone number placed six additional calls to the DJCC using the “*67″ feature, according to court records. Those calls were made at 8:35 p.m., 9:09 p.m., 9:11 p.m., 10:46 p.m., 10:50 p.m., and 10:59 p.m., officials said.
During that timeframe, several additional calls were made by Knott’s phone to the first student’s phone number, authorities said.
History of threats against women
March 31, 2017
Detroit police said they had been called March 31, 2017, to a home in the 19000 block of Glastonbury Road in Detroit.
When they arrived, officers said they met with a woman who had been receiving threats from Knott. She said Knott was angry because she wouldn’t get romantically involved with him, according to authorities.
The woman said Knott frequently called her to say he would rape her, officials said. Earlier in the day, Knott had threatened to shoot up her house, the woman told police.
Later that day, the woman was backing her grandmother’s vehicle out of the driveway when it was struck by another vehicle, police said. Knott was in the front passenger seat of the vehicle that struck her, the criminal complaint says.
Nov. 22, 2019
A woman walked into the Detroit Police Department’s 6th Precinct on Nov. 22, 2019, to report that Knott had threatened her and her child’s life, according to officials.
The woman said Knott was her ex-boyfriend. He had texted her several times to say he would rape and kill her and her 8-month-old daughter, authorities said.
May 14, 2021
Police were called May 14, 2021, to the 14000 block of West 8 Mile Road in Detroit. They said a woman told them Knott, her former patient, had called and demanded money he believed was owned to him.
Knott made threats to blow up the woman’s car and said he was going to follow her home and kill her, according to police.
Nov. 28, 2021
Detroit police were called Nov. 28, 2021, to a location on West 7 Mile Road in Detroit for a domestic violence incident, they said.
When officers arrived, they spoke to a woman who said she had been away from her home the previous day when someone broke in and stole her 60-inch LG television, her birth certificate, and her ID card, according to authorities.
She said she had received a video from Knott that showed him inside her apartment, stealing her items, police said. That video was followed by more threatening text messages, she said.
Videos with guns
Officials said they checked Knott’s Instagram page and found a photo of him holding an assault rifle magazine in his right hand, a rifle in his left hand, and a pistol in his waistband.
On June 7, authorities obtained Knott’s cellphone via search warrant and found multiple videos that showed him in possession of firearms, they said.
A video from April 4 showed Knott inside a home rapping, court records show. He was holding two Glock pistols in the video, according to authorities.
Arrest warrant
The complaint argues there’s probable cause that Knott transmitted threats in interstate commerce.
Officials requested an arrest warrant be issued.
