A Halloween event at popular theme park Kings Dominion descended into “panic chaos” over the weekend when a fight broke out between young people who were fueled by the 300 or so people who were there, a Virginia sheriff's office told Fox News Digital.
Sergeant Steve Wills of the Hanover County Sheriff's Office said the incident happened Saturday night following a recent stabbing of an 18-year-old at Busch Gardens in Williamsburg and a fight between minors at the nearby Chesterfield County Fair in late August.
“It seems to be a societal norm now that younger generations are causing chaos, and that's exactly what we've seen,” Wills told Fox News Digital.
“We initially responded to a fight inside a Kings Dominion arcade,” Wills said.
“We had a deputy on scene and he radioed for help because he said he estimated about 300 people were evacuated.”
“There were a few people fighting amongst hundreds of people who were egging it on, inciting it, behaving in a disorderly manner. It was difficult for us to get through the crowd and get to the scene of what was going on,” Wills continued.
“And then as we started to move them out of the arcade, the group got out and spread out, and somebody yelled, 'Guns!' And then the people we just moved out of the arcade started to surge back in, and as we went outside to try and restore order and make sure no one had guns, they started to surge back in. It was pure chaos.”
As of Tuesday, no arrests had been made in connection with the incident. Wills said 14 officers had to be called to the scene at Kings Dominion outside Richmond, Virginia.
“We as parents and as a society have to do more to help our children be polite and have good manners,” Wills told Fox News Digital, adding, “We have to control their behaviour more, instill good values and make sure they don't behave like this when we're not around.”
In a statement Tuesday, Kings Dominion told Fox News Digital the incident happened after rides and attractions at the park were temporarily closed due to inclement weather.
“A minor physical altercation occurred between minors who had taken refuge in the Candy Apple Grove area of the park, but it was quickly contained by security teams and those involved have since been banned from the park,” the spokesperson said.
“Normal activities resumed once the weather improved. No weapons were used or found within the park.”
Kings Dominion describes its Halloween Haunt event as “a yelling, screaming, good time.”
“When night falls on the park, hundreds of underworld creatures emerge to make your worst nightmares come true. Spine-chilling haunted houses, elaborate scare zones and terrifying haunted mazes will force you to sleep with the lights on,” the website description reads.
