Shooting involving teens outside of Six Flags in Arlington leads to chaos, panic
A group of teens were fighting outside of the entrance to Six Flags in Arlington on Friday night when one of them shot another in the arm, the sound of gunshots leading to commotion and confusion at the amusement park, police said.
Some people in the park were injured in the immediate aftermath, as they ran away on foot, police said in a news release. Videos posted to Twitter showed people frantically running toward the exit of the park amid panicked screams. One woman tweeted that people hopped fences and ducked underneath counters to find safety. In a photo, a large group hid inside of a building, packed close together.
The suspected shooter, a teen boy, was arrested and charged with aggravated assault, police said. His identity wasn’t released since he’s a juvenile.
The victim was also a teen boy.
The Arlington Police Department provided evolving updates on the incident over social media on Friday and into Saturday, as officers tried to understand the incident that played out in such a public and crowded place.
Police tweeted on Friday night that officers responded to a report of a shooting at the park around 8:30 and determined there wasn’t an active shooter. Several officers responded to the park out of an abundance of caution, police said in a news release.
They secured the park, police said, before interviewing witnesses and reviewing other evidence. They determined there had been a fight among a group of teens in the parking lot, when one teen boy shot another teen boy in the arm.
Police tweeted on Friday night that no victims had been found.
But on Saturday morning, Chief Al Jones said on Twitter a teen boy had been shot in the arm and survived.
The victim left the park after the shooting, and police were later notified he showed up to a hospital in Dallas, the department said. His injury isn’t life-threatening.
A 19-year-old man who was involved in the fight on Friday night was also arrested on a charge of possession of marijuana.
This story was originally published March 20, 2021 at 12:13 PM.
