Nyeem Hill, the fugitive whose presence near Grounds caused Tuesday’s lockdown and cancellation of classes, remains on the run from authorities. Hill fled the police on Tuesday morning following an attempted traffic stop and was sighted by police in the area of Alderman Road, leading to the University of Virginia issuing shelter-in-place warnings and updates on the situation via its emergency alert system.
UVA issued the first alerts on the morning of Tuesday, February 25th, around 9 a.m. The first alert read: “Fire/Police activity in the area of Alderman Rd. Avoid the area.” Minutes later, another alert: “All faculty, staff, and students shelter in place.” Students, faculty, and other community members took refuge across Grounds in classrooms, basements, gyms, and other buildings. Blinds were closed, and doors were locked and barricaded. Warning sirens of UVA’s emergency alert system blared through the air, accompanied by warnings broadcast by loudspeaker to “seek shelter immediately, indoors and away from windows.” A helicopter circled overhead.
“People were very concerned…We all got up, we closed the windows, we locked the door. We were told not to go near windows, so we all sort of clustered. But after 30 to 45 minutes of nothing happening, people got sort of uncomfortable and returned to their seats,” Charlie Sewell, a graduate student who was in class when the lockdown began, told CBS19 News.
“I thought it was an active shooter, and it reminded me of what happened [on Grounds] two years ago, so, you know, it was definitely nerve-wracking,” said Neda Brinster, a first-year student.
The shelter-in-place warning was prompted by the presence of Scottsdale area fugitive Nyeem Hill near grounds. An emergency alert issued at approximately 10:06 AM read: “Suspect on foot last seen off Grounds near Alderman Rd and McCormick Rd. No shots fired, no injuries. Continue to shelter in place.”
Hill, 19, who has had warrants out for his arrest since February 4th, several weeks before Tuesday’s incident, was driving on Fontaine Avenue at around 8:13 that morning, when police attempted to stop the car he was driving due to an expired inspection sticker. He refused to stop for the police and fled up the U.S. 29 Bypass. At the Ivy Road exit ramp, he got out of the car and fled on foot. He left the car in gear, which crashed into several other vehicles, including a state police car. Nobody was injured.
The manhunt was focused around the University Heights apartments on Ivy road after 9:00 a.m. when UVA issued the emergency alerts. The search soon expanded to the nearby Lewis Mountain neighborhood, located in the “Alderman area”at which Hill was last seen. It borders the University’s Grounds, and is particularly adjacent to the first year dorms on McCormick Road (a.k.a “Old Dorms”). Officers were unsure whether Hill, who had previously been convicted of felony gun charges, was armed.
Police warned Lewis Mountain residents to shelter in place as the manhunt was conducted. Charlottesville City Schools instructed all students, teachers, and staff to remain inside. St. Anne’s Belfield School, minutes away from both the crash site and Lewis Mountain, conducted a lockdown as well. At approximately 10:21 a.m., the University cancelled academic classes “until further notice.” Hill’s hoodie was found during the manhunt. Around 12:30, UVA announced that police were expanding their search to central grounds, and cancelled the rest of the day’s classes shortly after. Around 1:47 p.m., the University lifted the shelter-in-place order with an emergency alert: “Shelter in Place is lifted. Suspect believed to have left the area. Police remain on scene. Classes will resume on Wednesday.”
Hill remains at large. A current fugitive in Albemarle county, he has gang affiliation and a criminal record. When he was a minor, he was involved in a shootout and convicted of receiving a stolen car. He later reached a plea agreement that left him convicted only on the charge of being a felon in possession of a gun. Later, he was arrested in November 2023 for carrying a pistol and a semi-automatic rifle at a playground at the Westhaven public housing complex. He live streamed himself with the firearms on Facebook, which was reported to the police, leading to his arrest on the scene.
Charlottesville Circuit Court Judge Claude Worrell delayed the case’s sentencing due to conflicted feelings. On one hand, many testified to Hill’s positive qualities, including his mother, his girlfriend, herself a mother of toddlers, and others, describing him as a promising young man with lots of potential. Worrell had to weigh this character evidence against his concerns about the national epidemic of gun violence and its growing prominence in the Charlottesville area.
“Mr. Hill, I’m at a loss for what to do,” the judge said. “I’m a little bit stuck.”
Hill was eventually sentenced to 5 years in prison in July 2024. The court suspended some of the term, leaving an active sentence of 14 months.
Two days after the sentencing, Hill was arrested at the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail, where he had been detained, for allegedly ambushing and physically assaulting a fellow inmate. Allegedly, Hill and two other inmates surrounded the victim in his cell. One held the victim in place, while the other two, including Hill, battered him so violently that they shattered his eye socket.
When that case came to court in December, Hill was charged with malicious wounding, malicious wounding by mob, and gang participation. However, the victim refused to testify against Hill and the other alleged attackers. This problem created a lack of evidence, and the state chose not to pursue prosecution of the charges. Hill was released that same month, having served 13 months total of his 14 month sentence.
Then, weeks ago, on February 3rd, a grand jury indicted Hill with malicious bodily injury, malicious wounding by mob and gang participation. Hill never showed up to court. The next day, a judge issued an arrest warrant for Hill, which made him a fugitive. The police didn’t locate Hill until almost three weeks later, at the traffic stop which led to a manhunt and ultimately, a day of cancelled classes at the University of Virginia.
As of the writing of this article, Hill is still at large.
“We will find him and we will find him quickly,” Charlottesville police chief Michael Kochis said. UVA classes resumed on Wednesday.
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