VALDOSTA – A former Valdosta State University student who sparked national attention by walking on an American flag during a campus protest has been taken into custody by authorities for probation violation, according to reports.

A previous version of this story included information provided to the Valdosta Daily Times by Lowndes County Sheriff Ashley Paulk indicating Sheppard was in custody

At 5:30 p.m., an FBI spokesperson contacted Valdosta Today saying Sheppard was still being sought. 

An hour later, at 6:30 p.m., the FBI and Sheriff Paulk confirmed Sheppard had since been taken into custody.

Eric Sheppard pleaded guilty last year to bringing a gun onto the VSU campus during a May 2015 protest. Sheppard was sentenced to three years probation and was prohibited from returning to campus or leaving the state.

Warrants claim Sheppard violated the terms of his probation by traveling to Texas and making harassing phone calls while in the state, reports the Valdosta Daily Times.

In April 2015, VSU police discovered a handgun in a book bag left on campus following a demonstration in which Sheppard attended.

Investigators later linked the gun to Sheppard through a purchase receipt from a pawn shop, according to police reports.

Sheppard was part of a group which held several protests in which an American flag was placed on the ground and repeatedly walked on. The protests gained national attention after Air Force Veteran and former Playboy model Michelle Manhart was briefly detained but not arrested by campus police for taking the protesters’ flag during a demonstration.

Sheppard eluded police for a month and was arrested in Miami, Fla. in May 2015.

While he was on the run, Sheppard sent a rambling manifesto to the Valdosta Daily Times claiming to be a “terrorist toward white people.”