HAMPTON, Va. — A safety curfew is in place for North Beach on Fort Monroe in Hampton due to ongoing safety concerns and a shooting last week.
National Park Service officials announced North Beach has a 6 p.m. curfew for only the weekends, but it is hurting business at the Paradise Ocean Club on Fort Monroe.
“We took a significant financial hit. I have employees that are questioning if we are going to get back to regular hours because it’s important for them to pay bills," said Paradise Ocean Club owner Baxter Simmons.
Simmons said the shooting happened near his property.
“We had people from our property who had a disagreement. We got them out and taken care of and a young man decided to do something on his own and unfortunately, sometimes bad people do bad things. He went and took shots at some people walking down the sidewalk and hit a young lady in the elbow. Luckily, it’s not a life-threatening injury.”
Simmons said he’s working with the Hampton Police Division and National Park Service on a security plan.
“It talks about how many security we run on each day, where we position them, how we handle certain situations. So, if something arises, how does our security react to that?" said Simmons.
National Park Service rangers and Hampton police officers are working together to enforce the weekend early closure for North Beach. Simmons hopes they change the time for this weekend.
“They’ve called it an indefinite curfew. I know the goal is to get back to regular hours and we’re working with them," said Simmons.
Officials with the National Park Service said they plan to provide another update about the curfew this Friday.
Simmons said the club attracts about 100,000 people a year and the summer season is their peak time to get the most people in.