HAMPTON, Va. — For the second year in a row, a large gathering of young people at Buckroe Beach in Hampton is putting the beach in the spotlight.
Videos sent to News 3 show Hampton police responding to a large crowd gathered at Buckroe Beach April 4.
"It was just frustrating and, I think, overly aggressive," said Buckroe Beach resident Jay Leighton.
As News 3 has reported, a similar incident in May 2025 led to the creation of what is essentially a police substation at the beach.
Watch: 'Pop-up party' with 400 students at Buckroe Beach leads to multiple fights
Leighton says responses online to the April 4 incident and potential future development at the beach highlight the need for community conversation.
“I think we need community forums and I think we need public leaders of all walks of labor, faith, color to get together and come up with some plans of what is appropriate for us as a community and what do we want to be identified as," Leighton said.
In a Facebook post April 3, Hampton police said the event was not permitted and would be shut down immediately.
The city requires a permit for “any announced gathering” on city property that’s expected to get more than 250 people to show up.
Hampton Mayor Jimmy Gray said his understanding as of Monday was whoever was organizing this did not apply for a permit, but suspects even if they had the permit would likely have been denied. Some people question why a permit would be needed, as it’s just kids hanging out.
Watch: New station at Buckroe Beach aims to address safety concerns
“In one previous incident, a lot of kids showed up and they were jumping on top of vehicles sand damaging vehicles. We can’t allow kids to do that," Gray explained.
As for why the beach wasn’t shutdown ahead of time, then, Gray said not everyone showed up at once and the beach can’t be shut down just because a few people show up.
Watch: 'A marked success:' Reflecting on Shoreline Operations Station's first summer at Buckroe Beach
Moving forward, he hopes education will help prevent future gatherings like the one over the weekend.
“We are certainly going to work with our school division and our colleges and universities to help us get the word out to both the high school students and college students when possible to let them know that permits are required," Gray said.
Hampton police did not provide a response Monday to the gathering.
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