Lynchburg City Manager Bonnie Svrcek says a city-wide curfew will go into effect tonight at 8 pm through 6 am and will continue every night until further notice. (See exceptions to the curfew below.)
The curfew comes after two nights of protests that turned violent in the city, including shots fired directly at Lynchburg police officers last night near Miller Park.
Svrcek, Mayor Treney Tweedy, and Police Chief Ryan Zuidema say the curfew is meant to preserve life and property and is made in the interest of public safety.
Zuidema says that Monday night's protest at Miller Park with as many as 300 people began peacefully. However, once darkness set in, Zuidema says, "people started behaving differently."
The Police Chief says pedestrians blocked Park Avenue and an announcement was made to disperse. After that, with about 100 to 150 people still gathering in the street, officers used chemical agents to disperse the crowd.
Zuidema says there were about five incidents of gunfire near Miller Park last night, including what Zuidema says was an automatic weapon fired directly at two Lynchburg police officers.
No one was hurt by the gunfire, but a teenager was injured after falling from a car he was riding on top of.
Zuidema says that at Sunday night's protests at the corner of Fifth and Federal streets, two police vehicles sustained damage from gunshots.
The Chief says the goal of the curfew is not to go around arresting anyone who happens to be out after 8:00 pm, but, rather, to ensure residents' safety and to make sure they're not an unintended target of violence.
"I want people to see the gravity of the situation," Zuidema said.
Mayor Tweedy says the goal is to keep the community safe.
"We want voices to be heard, but we want people to be safe. We have a duty to take care of our residents. We want officers and protesters to all be able to go home to their families," Tweedy said.
City Manager Svrcek says she will make a decision every day by noon as to whether the curfew remains in effect.
More on this story from our media partner, ABC 13 - WSET.
Under the curfew, people should not be present on any street, road and park with the following exceptions:
- Persons traveling to and from home, work, or places of worship
- Hospital personnel
- Members of the press
- State and City of Lynchburg employees and volunteers
- Military personnel including, but not limited to, National Guard troops
- Employees of public utility companies
- Private emergency medical transport workers
- Persons seeking emergency services
- Homeless persons
A violation of the ordinance shall be punishable as a Class 1 misdemeanor.
More information at the City of Lynchburg Website