Antioch police announced that the village’s emergency curfew order has been lifted after no issues were reported overnight Wednesday into Thursday morning.
“The Department continues to monitor all available information and current trends, in an attempt to identify and evaluate potential risks. After much careful consideration, based on the best information available at this time, Mayor Hanson, in collaboration with the police department, has made the decision to lift the emergency curfew order,” the police department said in a statement.
Police officials asked that the community understand that these types of situations are “extremely fluid” and the decision is subject to reversal if the need arises.
“Although the curfew is lifted, we want to reassure our community that the Department continues to respond appropriately in order to keep Antioch safe. We encourage our residents, businesses, and guests to remain vigilant in remaining aware of suspicious activity,” officials added.
Antioch Mayor Lawrence Hanson signed a declaration of emergency curfew order on Wednesday, which went into effect at 8 p.m. and ended at 7 a.m. Thursday. It will not continue into Thursday evening.
Hanson said in the order that authorities had received “credible reports and police surveillance of confidential and public sources that rioters, looters and other bad actors have targeted the village” in a short period of time to come.
The curfew applied to everyone within village limits not engaged in legitimate employment activities.
In a statement, Hanson said that the Antioch Police Department identified several social media posts that indicate the village may be the target of unknown groups wishing to incite civil unrest as a result of the shooting that took place in Kenosha, Wisconsin Tuesday evening.
“In the current situation, based on a thorough evaluation of potential threats of civil unrest in our Village, and the potential for such a situation to create very a tense and potentially volatile environment, I have determined it is in the best interest of our community to issue an Emergency Curfew Order,” Hanson said on Wednesday.
“The implementation of this curfew will assist our police department in allowing them to remain focused on what is most important right now, the protection of our town,” he added.
The Antioch Police Department arrested Kyle H. Rittenhouse, 17, of Antioch, Wednesday morning.
Rittenhouse was charged with first-degree intentional homicide by prosecutors in Kenosha.
A shooting unfolded in the area of 63rd Street and Sheridan Road in Kenosha, Wisconsin around 11:45 p.m. Tuesday, according to police.
Video shared on social media showed a male, later identified as Rittenhouse, armed with a rifle.
A group of people can be seen tending to a person shot in the video and Rittenhouse is seen running away while on the phone saying “I just killed someone.”
Rittenhouse runs down the street and moments later trips and falls. Several people attack the teen, who then started firing shots, wounding several people.
Two of the victims were pronounced dead and a third suffered serious but non-life-threatening injuries, Kenosha police said.
Rittenhouse got up off the ground and began walking down the street with his hands up towards several police vehicles, the video shows.
The police cars and SWAT trucks drive past Rittenhouse towards the area where the shooting happened.
Rittenhouse left the area and returned to his home in Antioch, where he was later arrested, authorities said.
The shooting occurred during the third night of civil unrest after Kenosha police shot Jacob Blake several times over the weekend.
Several hundred members of the Wisconsin National Guard have been deployed to Kenosha following the unrest.
Rittenhouse appeared in bond court Wednesday morning and remains held at the Depke Juvenile Complex Center in Vernon Hills. He is scheduled to appear in court on Friday.