At approximately 1:20 a.m. on March 14, 1996, Tom's parents were awakened by a loud, forcible banging on their front door. Tom's father went to the door to find Newton Police Officer Neil Casey and Stillwater Police Officer John Schetting. The officer's stated that they were in possession of a valid search warrant and were there to search for and seize any firearms that may be in the house. The officer's showed Tom's father a document that stated as follows:

"LAW ENFORCEMENT SEARCH FOR AND SEIZURE OF WEAPONS - TO ANY LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER HAVING JURISDICTION:^[N.2] THIS ORDER SHALL SERVE AS A WARRANT TO SEARCH FOR AND SEIZE WEAPONS AS FOLLOWS:

1. YOU ARE HEREBY COMMANDED to search the premises described as WHITE HOUSE, BLACK SHUTTERS for the above described weapons and to serve a copy of this order upon the person at the address. You are further commanded to seize from defendant any issued permit to purchase or carry a firearm and firearms purchaser identification card."

While the officer's were stating to Tom's father that they were there to execute a search warrant, Tom's mother had gone to awaken him. Tom then stepped out into the living room from his bedroom. Upon seeing Tom come to the front door, the two officer's stepped into the house and told Tom that they were there to search for and seize weapons. They showed Tom the same document that they had showed his father and again stated that they were there to execute a search warrant to search for and seize firearms.

The officer's told Tom that they wanted to begin the search in a spare bedroom where they were told there was a safe. Tom acquiesced to the order of the police. The police officer's ordered Tom to open a locked safe similar to the one displayed at the right. Tom complied with their demands. The officers then began to remove a collection of firearms from the safe. Officer's Casey and Schetting removed several firearms cases from within the safe as well. With each case, the officers either unzipped or opened it to inspect its contents.

"[T]he general principle [is] that closed packages and containers may not be searched without a warrant."

-United States v. Ross[N.3]

Responsible firearms owners will often keep their firearms secure in a firearm safe to safeguard them from theft. Who would have ever envisioned that the police would have ransacked and stolen firearms from a locked safe in the middle of the night while acting under the guise of a legal search warrant. This is conduct much more egregious than a random burglary, in that here we have police officers- persons whom we would ordinarily implicitly trust- engaging in illegal and unconstitutional conduct!

The officer's then left Tom alone in the back bedroom to go and search for and seize firearms belonging to Tom's father. On their way to search for more firearms in the house, Officer Casey jokingly stated to Tom "Now don't shoot one of us; that wouldn't make us very happy."

After seizing firearms from Tom's father, the officers then ordered Tom to take them into his bedroom. Once there, officer Casey ordered Tom to lift up the mattress to his bed so that he could look there for firearms. No firearms were found, nor had there ever been any there. Also in Tom's bedroom, the officer's spotted a locked footlocker. The officer's ordered Tom to unlock the footlocker so that they could rummage through it as well.