Virginia Beach council approves limited oceanfront curfew after two mass shootings

Virginia Beach’s City Council on April 26 approved a temporary weekend curfew in a portion of the oceanfront resort area, voting 10–1 to give police an additional tool to try to prevent further mass shootings after two recent incidents.

Chief Nudigate told the council that the department had responded to two fast, severe shootings — one on March 7 and another on April 11 — that unfolded in roughly 12 seconds and together wounded multiple people. “We have experienced a public safety crisis,” the chief said, describing limited legal options for proactively dispersing large unpermitted crowds and detailing staffing shortages, technology gaps and recent seizures of weapons.

The ordinance the council approved as amended authorizes a temporary “imminent threat” curfew in a geographically defined zone of the oceanfront from 9:30 p.m. to 5 a.m. on the immediate Friday–Saturday period and again for the Week 17 weekend. Council members said the measure is intended as a short-term, targeted pause to reduce the chance of mass casualties while the city pursues longer-term legislative and operational changes.

The vote followed more than three hours of public comment. Business owners, hoteliers and restaurants warned that a blanket curfew would harm the resort economy and employees who depend on evening hours. John Zurkel, president of the Virginia Beach Hotel Association, told the council the industry is willing to support targeted steps but asked for careful timing to avoid undercutting major events. “We hope you’ll look at the time periods and make some adjustments to better serve our visitors and businesses,” Zurkel said.

Other speakers pressed the city to act. Several residents and community leaders described the oceanfront as increasingly dangerous and urged immediate measures to protect families and bystanders. Jamal Gun, chair of the Human Rights Commission, said the commission had a divided view but that the recent escalation of gun violence had reached a point where he could not “sit by and take no action.”

Council members said they were torn between public-safety urgency and the economic costs of restricting access to the oceanfront. Multiple members urged the creation of a task force to study longer-term responses, including a proposed state-level “pop-up event” statute the city had sought previously. Councilmembers also asked staff to provide near-term briefings on lighting, camera upgrades and the drone program the department expects to deploy.

Chief Nudigate told the council the department will implement the curfew with an emphasis on education and voluntary compliance at first, following the model used with the juvenile curfew earlier this season. He said officers will give timed public announcements and warnings before enforcement and that only a small number of arrests would be expected in the event of noncompliance.

Mayor Bobby Dyer framed the approved curfew as a narrowly tailored, temporary step. “If we wait for a fatality, we have already failed,” he said during the chief’s presentation; during the vote he thanked residents for their engagement and urged participation in follow-up planning.

The council directed staff to: implement the temporary curfew for the designated weekends, coordinate enforcement messaging and compliance efforts with the police department, assess technology and lighting needs, and convene stakeholders to plan longer-term strategies. The council also asked city staff to continue pursuing state legislation that would give localities additional tools to manage unpermitted large gatherings.

The ordinance takes effect for the immediate weekend beginning the night after the vote and for the Week 17 weekend specified by the council. The council will provide follow-up briefings and convene a stakeholder group to recommend permanent or programmatic changes.