S.D.W.Va.: RS determined at the time of stop, not by what found after

A “black man with a waving a gun” did not justify defendant’s stop. When officers arrived, he was just there. No gun visible or apparent. Reasonable suspicion is determined at the time, not after the fact. United States v. Wilder, 2025 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 155580 (S.D. W. Va. Aug. 12, 2025):

Based on all the evidence, I observe that no one in the vicinity of the Defendant was reacting to any perceived threat. Still, the Government emphasizes that the tip described a man “waving” a gun-not merely possessing one. Nothing the officers saw on arrival corroborated that tip, and the fact that officers did find a gun does not aid the Government’s argument. J.L., 529 U.S. at 271 (“That the allegation about the gun turned out to be correct does not suggest that the officers, prior to the frisks, had a reasonable basis for suspecting” the defendant.). Here, the totality of the circumstances heavily considers the uneventful scene in front of the officers, unable to satisfy reasonable suspicion under J.L.

I do not doubt that the officers acted calmly, professionally, and without undue aggression. Similarly, I cannot ignore the Defendant’s actual commission of a crime (a felon in possession). But reasonable suspicion is judged at the moment of the seizure, not with the benefit of hindsight. In that moment, the officers had no lawful basis to search. Suppression is a severe remedy, but it is compelled here because the search was constitutionally unreasonable.