## Facts

- Late at night in Buffalo, New York, an anonymous 911 caller reported a Black man in a white sweatsuit riding a bicycle west on Stanislaus Street toward Fillmore Avenue with a gun visible.
- Minutes later, officers in a marked patrol car saw a Black man dressed in white riding a bicycle west on Stanislaus Street in the reported area; the officers knew the area to have high crime.
- The officers activated lights and attempted to stop the bicyclist; he accelerated and maneuvered around the patrol car in a way the officers interpreted as an attempt to flee.
- Other officers joined and blocked his path, stopping him.
- Officers restrained him and observed a black gym bag strapped to his back; when asked what it contained, he said “a baseball bat.”
- Concerned the bag could contain a weapon, an officer patted down the bag, felt what he believed was the muzzle of a gun, opened the bag, and recovered an assault rifle.
- Muhammad was charged with felon-in-possession under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1), moved to suppress the rifle as the product of an unlawful stop and search, lost in the district court, then pled guilty while preserving the right to appeal the suppression ruling.

## Issues

1. Whether officers had reasonable suspicion to stop Muhammad based on an anonymous report of an armed person plus officers’ corroborating observations and Muhammad’s evasive conduct in a high-crime area.
2. Whether, during the stop, officers lawfully frisked and opened Muhammad’s gym bag as a protective weapons search under *Terry*.

## Decision

- The Second Circuit affirmed the denial of the suppression motion and affirmed the conviction.
- The court held the stop was supported by reasonable suspicion under the totality of the circumstances: a close match to the tip’s description, temporal and geographic proximity, and evasive flight in a high-crime area.
- The court held the protective search of the gym bag was lawful because officers reasonably feared it could contain a weapon; after feeling an object consistent with a gun muzzle, opening the bag and seizing the rifle was reasonable.

## Legal Principles

- An uncorroborated anonymous tip that a person has a gun, standing alone, does not establish reasonable suspicion; police must have additional indicia of reliability or corroboration.
- Reasonable suspicion is assessed under the totality of the circumstances, including corroboration of predictive or identifying details, temporal proximity, location, and observed behavior.
- Evasive flight, particularly in a high-crime area, is a relevant factor that can contribute to reasonable suspicion when combined with other circumstances.
- During a lawful investigatory stop, officers may conduct a limited protective frisk for weapons when they reasonably believe the suspect may be armed and dangerous.
- The protective frisk may extend to a container carried by the suspect when officers reasonably believe it could hold a weapon; if the frisk reveals an object consistent with a weapon, opening the container to secure it may be permissible.

## Conclusion

Because the anonymous gun report was corroborated by the officers’ prompt observation of a closely matching suspect and his evasive flight in a high-crime area, the stop was lawful, and the subsequent patdown and opening of the bag to secure a suspected weapon did not violate the Fourth Amendment.


United States v. Muhammad, 463 F.3d 115 (2d Cir. 2006)