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Raleigh may consider a youth curfew, similar to other North Carolina cities and businesses, after nine people were shot during what police are calling a “teen takeover” that occurred over the Fourth of July weekend, said Raleigh Mayor Janet Cowell.
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“As Mayor I am grateful for the actions of the Raleigh Police officers in response to the situations of juvenile violence across the City on the night of July 4 and morning of July 5,” Cowell said in a written statement to The News & Observer. “Clearly Raleigh is not exempt from the incidents of youth violence that are occurring across the country. We need to talk with the youth, their parents, schools and the broader community to understand the root causes and to better coordinate strategies.”
One of those approaches could be a youth curfew for those 17 years and under, with “city leadership” exploring many approaches that will be discussed during the Raleigh City Council meeting on Tuesday, July 7.
The shootings in Raleigh are the latest in the “teen takeover” trend.
The idea spreads rapidly on special media, encouraging teenagers to gather in public places like malls, beaches, parks and downtown areas. The trend’s been ongoing for several months, with some gatherings reaching thousands of people and sometimes turning violent, according to reporting from national media outlets.
Raleigh Police described chaos involving thousands of teenagers and many law enforcement agencies that worked for hours Saturday, July 4, and into Sunday, throughout parts of the city.
At least 3,000 teens were part of a takeover in Brier Creek, in northwest Raleigh, where “a large fight erupted” and two bystanders were injured, The News & Observer reported. The takeover reassembled in Glenwood South with about 5,000 teenagers that resulted in multiple shootings and people injured.
Winston-Salem and Greenville both ordered youth curfews this year after teen takeover events, and some shopping malls have created new policies requiring teenagers to have an adult with them.
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Charlotte officials warned it would strictly enforce its juvenile curfew ordinance, one that’s been on the books since the 1990s and updated throughout the decades, during these teen gatherings, The Observer reported.
Raleigh previously ordered a curfew during the protests around criminal justice including when George Floyd, a Black man, was killed by a white police officer in May 2020, and when a Kentucky grand jury cleared three Louisville police officers of criminal wrongdoing in the fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor in September 2020.
State law allows cities and counties to enact curfews for anyone under the age of 18. Some local governments have exceptions including if the person is traveling to work, with a parent, responding to an emergency or exercising their First Amendment rights, according to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s School of Government’s North Carolina Criminal Law Blog.
Academic research suggests that youth curfews are a common tactic local officials use, but there is “mixed evidence on the effectiveness” on curfews on youth crime outcomes, according to a 2024 review of academic literature by the United States’ Department of Justice’s Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.
Civil rights and youth organizations have called curfews a violation of young people’s rights said they are “often applied in a discriminatory fashion,” according to the National Youth Rights Association.
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Reporter Nolan Wilkinson contributed to this report.
This story was originally published July 6, 2026 at 11:47 AM.