MASON, Ohio — Kings Island closed 30 minutes early Saturday evening due to "unruly behavior and altercations" involving teenagers, park officials confirmed Sunday morning.

The Mason Police Department said officers responded to reports of "unruly guests primarily juveniles" inside the park and in the parking lot. No arrests were made Saturday, police said.

The Ohio State Highway Patrol also responded to the scene, and an OSHP spokesperson confirmed to WCPO there were multiple fights inside the park before a bigger altercation in the parking lot Saturday evening.

“The safety of our guests and associates is always our top priority," read a statement from Kings Island sent to WCPO Sunday morning. "On Saturday, the decision was made to close the park 30 minutes early due to unruly behavior and altercations involving a number of teenagers. This behavior did not align with our park’s values, and was not the experience we want any guest to have while visiting Kings Island."

Shan Powell posted a video of one of the fights inside the park that has more than 3,000 shares.
"It is an injustice that the staff is required to babysit some of these children," Powell told WCPO. "They're dropped off at the drop off right in front of the park and then left for hours at a time unsupervised."

Powell said it's going to take the community as a whole to fix the problem, not new park rules.

"I think the park should very much remain open, especially after the pandemic, for all ages," he said. "I'm not a big person for new rules, but I am a person of unity and unified responsibility. It's not going to fall on the staff alone to remedy this -- this is a community place."

MASON, Ohio —

Kings Island chaos was caught on camera Saturday.

Police were called to the amusement park to break up large groups of teens fighting.

People who were there said it was traumatic not only in the park, but outside in the parking lot.

We learned a police officer was assaulted while trying to help someone else who was assaulted.

Mason police said that officer was attacked with a "chemical spray" but added that it was not his mace.

They said that officer is fine.

But people we talked with said the whole scene was scary.

"It became a mob. Mosh pit-style fighting," witness Shan Powell said.

Powell captured video that might get your heart racing.

Families and people including Powell who went to Kings Island for an escape on Saturday, found themselves trapped in tension.

"There was a lot of yelling. Ice, sodas being thrown at the officers, at each other, but it was just pretty much chaos," Powell said.

Powell said he was eating at Coney Bar-B-Que when he said a big group of teens filled the area and a fight broke out at about 7:30 p.m.

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"The whole day, there had been quite a bit of people living without consequences, line-jumping, stealing Coke products, and it was just a really weird feeling throughout the whole day," he said.

Powell saw security, Mason police, Warren County Sheriff's deputies and Ohio state troopers arrive quickly.

The park said it closed 30 minutes early due to the bad behavior.

But people said the fighting only continued in the parking lot.

"We really just got to work together. This is a community issue. It's not going to be just Kings Island to fix it. It's not going to be just Mason police that fixes it. It's not going to be just the parents that fix it. It's going to be a unified effort," Powell said.

So what is the fix?

Powell thinks more staffing, maybe new rules and perhaps a hard look in the mirror.

"They were terrorizing that park last night and you've just got to decide: Is that who you want to be? Is that the image that you want to portray? And then, just make the choice and stick with it and if some of your friends don't follow you, that's OK. But just make the right choices," Powell said.

A spokesman for Kings Island released this statement to WLWT initially:

"The safety of our guests and associates is always our top priority. On Saturday, the decision was made to close the park 30 minutes early due to unruly behavior and altercations involving a number of teenagers. This behavior did not align with our park's values, and was not the experience we want any guest to have while visiting Kings Island."

He then released a second statement to us when we circled back, asking about concerns from passholders who are considering dropping their membership if the fights become a trend:

"Yesterday's event was not a normal occurrence at King Island. Unruly behavior has no place at our park. The altercations on display last night do not align with our park's values, and were not the experience we want any guest to have while visiting Kings Island. We are taking immediate steps to address the situation so that our guests enjoy their future visits."

Investigators said they have made no arrests, but also said charges could still be filed if they are able to positively identify people involved.

They're also still unsure if anyone was hurt during the fighting because they said everyone scattered and ran from the area.