Share and Follow
Background: News footage of St. Cloud State University (WCCO). Inset: Romello Lloyd (Stearns County Sheriff”s Office).
A college student in Minnesota has been arrested for allegedly issuing threats against a fraternity that declined his membership application.
Romello Lloyd, 29, found himself in police custody on Monday, facing two charges of making violent threats. Court documents, accessed by Law&Crime, reveal that St. Cloud Police officers were informed by a student at St. Cloud State University about Lloyd’s alleged threats to “shoot up a fraternity.”
The student involved, who is a member of the fraternity, reported to the Public Safety department that Lloyd’s application to join as a pledge had been denied.
According to the court documents, Lloyd confronted the student in a campus skyway, initiating the encounter from behind. He accused the student of orchestrating an attack on him three weeks prior. Lloyd allegedly expressed his anger over the fraternity’s rejection and threatened the student, stating he would retaliate violently if he discovered who was behind the supposed attack, saying, “If I find out who sent them, I will shoot them even if it is you.”
During the altercation, Lloyd reportedly described himself to the student as “dangerous.”
According to police, Lloyd made previous statements indicating that he wanted others to know he could cause them harm, including that he owned a rifle and a handgun. Police wrote that during another incident, Lloyd mentioned a traffic light outside the fraternity house and said “they should play the Squid Games,” referring to the hit Netflix series in which desperate people living in a dystopian society play children’s games, including “Red Light, Green Light,” with deadly consequences in order to win money. Lloyd allegedly said that he would give the other person a firearm “so they could shoot anyone who moves.”
When police arrived on campus, they made contact with Lloyd while he was in class. After Lloyd denied making the threats, officers found a Ruger Mark IV handgun in his backpack loaded with 10 rounds of ammunition. A second full magazine with 22 cartridges was also found on him. Officers said they found a knife and “replica firearms.”
Police wrote that Lloyd had been found incompetent to stand trial in multiple cases including three charges of stalking, one of which was dismissed; the other two are listed as dormant. The finding disallowed Lloyd from possessing firearms.
Local CBS affiliate WCCO reported that the president of St. Cloud State University notified the campus community about the threat after Lloyd’s arrest. In an email, the president wrote that while law enforcement responded to a “credible threat,” Lloyd was not “wielding the gun openly in front of students.” The message stated that there was no longer a threat on campus.
Lloyd was charged with two felony counts of making threats with violence and two misdemeanor counts of possessing a firearm while incompetent or mentally ill. He is currently in custody at the Stearns County Jail, where he is being held on $1 million bond with conditions and $2 million bond without conditions. His next court appearance has not been listed as of Thursday.