(AUSTELL, Ga.) — Multiple suspects are being sought after a 15-year-old was shot when police exchanged gunfire with what they described as an “unruly crowd” of up to 600 people near the Six Flags Over Georgia amusement park in suburban Atlanta, authorities say.
The shooting erupted around 6:15 p.m. Saturday on a service road just off the 290-acre theme park’s property in Austell, about 17 miles northwest of Atlanta, according to the Cobb County Police Department.
Before the shooting, Cobb County police officers were called to the park by Six Flags Over Georgia security to help disperse “a sizeable unruly crowd” of 500 to 600 people “running through the park and fighting,” Cobb County police said in a statement to Atlanta ABC affiliate WSB-TV.
When police arrived, they were confronted by a large crowd leaving the park, which was celebrating its opening day of the season, according to authorities.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation, which is leading an investigation into the shooting, said in a statement Sunday afternoon that preliminary information indicates Cobb County officers were responding to assist with crowd control near the park’s entrance “after several fights had taken place amongst patrons” leaving the park.
“At some point, multiple people began shooting, hitting an unoccupied CCPD marked patrol car,” according to the GBI statement. “As officers identified where the shots were coming from, they ran after people who had run into the woods. During the incident, one CCPD officer fired his weapon, hitting one minor.”
The wounded teenager was taken to Grady Hospital in Atlanta, where he was in critical condition on Sunday, according to the GBI. The teenager’s name was not released.
A handgun was recovered by police near where they located the wounded teenager, according to the GBI.
“It is incredibly disappointing that our community is disrupted at public events throughout the region by groups of underaged youth. Just like other venues in the area, we are committed to keeping this type of trouble outside our park and off our property,” Six Flags Over Georgia said in a statement.
The shooting occurred on the South Service Road, which is not owned or operated by Six Flags, theme park officials said.
“However, we join our community and the Atlanta region in our commitment to safety and security. We won’t put up with that type of activity here,” park officials said, adding that the park has “state-of-the-art security systems and metal detection.”
“Every guest is expected to follow our strict code of conduct and anyone unwilling to follow that code of conduct is unwelcome,” park officials added.
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