Probation granted in Lincoln University lockdown

A St. Louis man was placed on two years unsupervised probation for pleading guilty to amended charges in connection with a lockdown of the Lincoln University campus in November 2015.

Zaccheus Griffin, 19, was charged with stealing and resisting arrest, both misdemeanors. He had been charged with felony second-degree burglary and felony resisting arrest.

As part of his probation, Griffin must complete a 16-day shock detention sentence.

Officers were called to a room at Dawson Hall where a female student said she saw Griffin, another student, enter her room and take $80 from her wallet, according to a Lincoln University Police Department probable cause statement.

Prior to this, the female student said she had taken her laundry down to the basement, and Griffin had asked her if there was anyone in her room, to which she replied there was not.

Officers went to Griffin's room to speak to him, and he allowed officers to search his room where they discovered drug paraphernalia and also found a .22-caliber semi-automatic handgun and bullets in a gym bag.

When Griffin saw the officers had found the gun, he ran out the front door of his room and into the hallway. He then jumped from the fifth-floor balcony to the fourth floor and eventually got away from the officers.

This prompted school officials to place the campus on a lockdown, but it was lifted after they conducted a room-to-room search of Dawson Hall with the aid of Jefferson City police and the Cole County Sheriff's Department.

Griffin was eventually taken into custody and charged.