The University of Virginia and the UVA Medical Center were both placed on a ‘”shelter in place” order for over four and a half hours today” as police searched for a suspect who fled a traffic stop on Ivy Road. The order was listed at 1:42 p.m. and officials believe the person has left the area.
The Virginia State Police report on a Facebook page that one of their officers attempted to make a traffic stop at 8:13 a.m. this morning on Fontaine Avenue for a Chevrolet Impala with an expired inspection sticker.
“The suspect refused to stop, and a pursuit was initiated,” reads a social media post made just after 11 a.m. this morning.
“The suspect took the Ivy Road exit, slowed, and fled from the vehicle while it was still in drive,” the message continues. “The Impala then struck a State Police vehicle and at least one other vehicle.”
The release did not name a suspect, but stated the person had been seen in the University Heights apartment complex.
“A perimeter has been established with the assistance of Charlottesville, Albemarle, and UVA Police Departments,” reads the message.
About an hour earlier, City Councilor Lloyd Snook posted information to a neighborhood list that he said came from various press releases. He named a suspect but that name has been removed from this post pending confirmation given that the Virginia State Police did not offer an identity.
The University of Virginia canceled classes at 10:22 a.m. following an hour of increasingly frantic texts alerting people on Grounds to the incident.
At 9:04 a.m., UVA sent out an initial alert stating there was fire and police activity in the area of Alderman Road. People were told to avoid the area.
At 9:18, UVA provided more detail with an alert that read “Police are looking for a suspect in the area. Shelter in place.”
Nine minutes later, another alert detailed the suspect as a Black male with a height of 6 feet and four inches wearing a grey hoodie.
“Avoid area, shelter in place,” the alert read.
At 9:36 a.m. an alert read “All faculty, staff and students shelter in place.”
Ten minutes later an image was provided of the suspect.
At 10:06 a.m. an alert was sent out that said there were no shots fired and no injuries, but people were to continue to shelter in place.
Snook shared information with the Greenbriar Neighborhood Association email list at 10:19 a.m. At the time, there was no active alert on the appropriate Virginia State Police website.
The text alerts sent out by UVA also o not identify a suspect. Instead, an alert sent out at 10:45 a.m. updated the description to a Black male, 170 pounds, with a height of six feet, one inch.
At 12:11 p.m., the alert message asked people to not leave their current location and to continue to shelter in place.
At 12:25 p.m., an alert went out that stated the search had been expanded to Central Grounds.
The lockdown canceled other events as well such as an afternoon performance at the Paramount Theater.
“Due to the shelter-in-place directive from UVA and our close proximity to Grounds, we have made the decision to prioritize community safety and cancel the 12:15PM performance of Charlottesville Opera and Paramount Presents: SING ME A STORY — “Your Journey to the Stage” on Tuesday, February 25,” the theater posted on its Facebook page.
The University of Virginia’s Board of Visitors was scheduled to meet at the Rotunda at 1 p.m. for a special meeting but that was moved to the Boar’s Head Inn on U.S. 250 west of Charlottesville.
At 1:42 p.m. another alert was sent out ending the lockdown.
“Shelter in place is lifted,” reads the text. “Suspect believed to have left the area. Police remain on scene. Classes will resume on Wednesday.”
Before you go: This post was originally published to this website and will be updated throughout the day and in the next edition of Charlottesville Community Engagement, a newsletter powered by Substack since July 2020. The idea is to get as many stories out as possible each day, and then some of the material ends up here. Sometimes stories are posted here first. All of this is an experiment powered by Town Crier Productions, currently a one-person company that seeks to be as prolific as possible.
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First edit: I removed the name of the subject because there is not yet confirmation. I also added information from the Virginia State Police from their 11 a.m. email.