Detroit Man Arrested After Directing Death Threats to Jay-Z, Beyonce

A 37-year-old Detroit man, Leon Desmond Barrett, was arrested and charged with mailing threatening communications on Tuesday, after sending multiple letters to third parties, vowing to kill Jay-Z, Beyonce and former NFL player Jerome Bettis.

The complaint filed against Barrett on Tuesday states that between December 2006 and April 2009, he wrote and sent over a dozen letters to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, the Pro Football Hall of Fame and the University of Notre Dame threatening to harm Jerome Bettis, and eventually Jay-Z and Beyonce.

In a letter penned on August 2007, Barrett wrote, "I'm getting ready to start killing some more people. Beyonce, Jay-Z, Jerome Bettis and Tune-up Man are the first four people I'm getting ready to kill."

Barrett told the Associated Press that he has had an issue with Bettis for about seven years now, and wanted to express that to other parties associated with the former football player. In another letter, directed at Bettis' family, Barrett wrote, "We do not want to have a gunfight with them but if we have to, we will. I guess it [sic] going to be another Virginia Tech massacre all over again in Detroit."

There has been no word yet on why Barrett decided to target Jay and Beyonce.