Mathias, J.
….
On February 23, 2014, at approximately 5:20 a.m., Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department Officer Jonathan Schultz (“Officer Schultz”) responded to a dispatch that an anonymous caller reported a person inside a silver or gray vehicle waving a firearm at Washington Point Apartments. When Officer Schultz arrived at the apartment complex, he saw a silver vehicle with its headlights off parked perpendicular to the parking spots. As the officer pulled into the parking lot and was driving toward the vehicle, the vehicle pulled into a parking space. The officer did not see any other silver or gray occupied vehicles in the parking lot.
Officer Schultz activated his rear emergency lights and parked his vehicle at an “angle towards where he was parked at, off to the side.” [Footnote omitted.] [Record citations omitted throughout.] Then the officer, who was in full uniform and carrying a flashlight, approached the driver’s side of the vehicle. The driver identified himself as Grayson. …
Next, Officer Schultz mentioned the dispatch about a person waving a gun. As he continued his conversation with Grayson, through the open driver’s side window, Officer Schultz observed the butt of a firearm underneath the driver’s seat between Grayson’s feet. Officer Shultz asked if any firearms were in the vehicle, and Grayson stated that there were not, a statement that was clearly a lie, based on Officer Schultz’s personal observation.
….
Grayson was subsequently charged with Class B felony unlawful possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon. [Footnote omitted.] Prior to trial, Grayson filed a motion to suppress the firearm found during the warrantless search. … However, the court concluded that the officer had reasonable suspicion to believe criminal activity had occurred, and Pirtle warnings were not necessary because Officer Schultz had probable cause to search the vehicle after seeing the handgun between Grayson’s feet.
[At bench trial,] Grayson objected to the admission of the firearm for the reasons raised in the motion to suppress, and he also argued that the investigatory stop was unreasonable because it was based solely on an anonymous tip. … The trial court overruled the objection and found Grayson guilty of Class B felony unlawful possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon. …
….
Grayson relies on Florida v. J.L., 529 U.S. 266 (2000), in support of his argument that the anonymous tip was not sufficiently corroborated by Officer Schultz, and therefore, the officer lacked reasonable suspicion to make an investigatory stop. In J.L., an anonymous caller reported that a young black male wearing a plaid shirt and standing at a particular bus stop was carrying a gun. When Miami police officers arrived at the bus stop several minutes later, they observed three black males, and one of the three, later identified as J.L., was wearing a plaid shirt. The officers did not see a firearm or any other threatening or unusual movement. One of the officers approached J.L., ordered him to put his hands on the bus stop, frisked him, and seized a gun from his pocket. After concluding that the officers lacked reasonable suspicion necessary to justify a Terry stop, the Supreme Court held that “an anonymous tip lacking indicia of reliability . . . does not justify a stop and frisk whenever and however it alleges the illegal possession of a firearm. Id. at 274.
… [T]his case does not involve a stop and frisk. Officer Schultz simply approached the vehicle and asked Grayson a couple of questions, and while doing so, saw the firearm in plain sight, belying Grayson’s claims that no weapon was in the car. For these reasons, we are not persuaded by Grayson’s reliance on J.L.
Finally, we do not believe our holding is inconsistent with Sellmer [v. State, 842 N.E.2d 358, 361 (Ind. 2006)], another case upon which Grayson relies. * * * The tipster in Sellmer reported ongoing, non-violent, criminal conduct, i.e. possession of drugs. The anonymous tipster in this case reported witnessing criminal conduct risking serious bodily injury to those in the immediate vicinity. A report of an individual waving a gun involves an immediate threat to the general public. This is an allegation that warrants “immediate response by the police for the safety of the general public[.]” [Citations omitted.] Here, Grayson also lied to Officer Schultz about whether he had a firearm early in their conversation, precisely while Officer Schultz observed the butt of a gun in plain view on the driver’s side floorboard of the vehicle.
….
Affirmed.
Kirsch, J., and Bradford, J., concur.