Police retrieved a gun Sunday night from a room on the sixth floor of Willow Hall.

The weapon, a pellet gun, is believed to be related to the incident in Willow Hall on March 16, when witnesses reported seeing a man brandishing a gun, according to an ISU Police press release.

Numerous charges were filed against Jawon Jackson of Aurora, Ill., stemming from the incident. However, the charges were dropped because of a lack of evidence, the failure to find a weapon and conflicting witness statements.

The gun, which was found hidden inside a pair of gloves, was discovered in a room that was previously locked, said ISU Police Cmdr. Gene Deisinger.

Deisinger said the room had been searched earlier by the police, but only after they had obtained permission from one of the residents.

No weapon was found in the initial search of the room, but police were called back a week later when the weapon was discovered.

Deisinger said in a previous interview that the police could not search any locked rooms.

“We consider the rooms to be places that the students rent,” said Ginny Arthur, associate director of residence halls. “So unless there’s a reason to believe they or someone else is at harm in the room, or that there’s a physical emergency with the building, we would not enter a [locked] room and the police, technically, would need a warrant.”

According to the press release, the gun was transported to the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation’s crime laboratory in Ankeny for forensic examination.

Jim Saunders, public information officer for DCI, said the type of testing done on a pellet gone would be focused on gathering physical evidence rather than the traditional ballistics testing done on firearms.

“Honestly, with a pellet gun I would suspect they would be looking for fingerprints,” Saunders said. “It’d be hard to do a ballistics testing on a pellet gun. It would have to have been fired, then the pellet would have to have been recovered from the scene.”

He said the lab would be looking for any physical evidence that could connect the gun to an individual.

“They’ll be looking for all manner of physical evidence – from hair to fibers, from clothing, fingerprints, skin follicles, sweat and any other kind of physical evidence, basically,” Saunders said.

Saunders said the amount of time the tests would take would depend on the lab’s current workload.

Story County Attorney Stephen Holmes said he couldn’t discuss possible charges that could be filed against Jackson because a definitive connection between Jackson and the gun hadn’t been made.

Jackson was originally charged with going armed with intent (a Class D felony); carrying a weapon on school grounds (a Class D felony); and first degree harassment (an aggravated misdemeanor.)

According to section 708.8 of the Iowa Code, going armed with intent involves a person going “armed with any dangerous weapon,” with the intent to use it “without justification” against another person.

Holmes said that a pellet gun could be considered a dangerous weapon but that the definition of “dangerous weapon” was malleable.

“Technically a pencil could be a dangerous weapon,” Holmes said.