Holly MatkinGurnee, IL – Four police officers were injured and six teens were arrested after a fight erupted at Six Flags Great America on Memorial Day.
Gurnee Police Department (GPD) were called to the amusement park at approximately 7:15 p.m. on May 29 for a report of a fight, the department said in a press release the following day.
“Witnesses claimed the fight started between two groups inside the park, near the front gates, and spread to the parking lot,” the GPD said.
Gurnee police were already patrolling the park and requested additional assistance from surrounding law enforcement agencies to help break up the brawl and assist with crowd control.
Officers from the Waukegan Police Department and the Zion Police Department responded to the scene, as did Lake County Sheriff’s Office deputies, according to the GPD.
The officers who were already patrolling the theme park were able to quickly intervene in the brawl, but the large crowd initially refused to stop fighting.
A GPD officer ultimately deployed OC spray into the “disruptive crowd” to break up the altercation, but the fighting continued.
The situation was brought under control after the assisting law enforcement agencies and K9 units arrived at the scene.
Police ultimately arrested five juveniles and one adult for “battering other patrons and police personnel,” the GPD said.
Four of the suspects, ages 14, 15, 17, and 17, were from Indiana.
A 16-year-old suspect was from North Chicago, Illinois, and an 18-year-old suspect was from Zion, Illinois.
Three of the six suspects were transported to Condell Hospital for treatment of minor injuries and were released later the same night, according to the GPD.
Four GPD officers suffered minor injuries during the fight.
One was treated and released at a local hospital, and the other three were treated at the theme park by Gurnee Fire Department personnel.
The amusement park shut down for the day after the incident, the Lake and McHenry County Scanner reported.
Large groups of people left the park and headed over to nearby businesses, where additional fights allegedly broke out.
