Virginia Amusement Park Devolves Into ‘Fight Club’ For Halloween As Brawl Breaks Out At Holiday Event

I went to Kings Dominion in Doswell, Virginia, one day during my youth and only remember a few things. They had a roller coaster named after Dale Earnhardt that I was regrettably too big of a wuss to ride at the time (I was 17… just kidding… unfortunately not by much though), there was a strong Looney Tunes presence which was very cool, a tall water slide that I recall coming close to (or at least feel like I was coming close to) flying out of, and it marked the first time in my life, I — a Yankee from the mean streets of rural Pennsylvania — sampled Chick-fil-A.

I do not recall seeing a bunch of youths starting their own fight club to the point that police needed to call in reinforcements, but maybe that was because I wasn't there for Halloween.

According to Fox News Digital, the park had a major problem when young adults started brawling while getting cheered on by a crowd of hundreds of onlookers during their Halloween Haunt event.

"We initially responded to a fight inside the arcade," Sgt. Steve Wills of the Hanover County Sheriff's Office told Fox News Digital. "We had a deputy that was right there, he came across the radio asking for assistance because he had, what he said, estimated to be about 300 people." 

I've been in a heated Skee-Ball game in my day, but it never escalated like that.

Happy, non-fighting park-goers ride Kings Dominon's Intimidator 305 (that's the Dale Earnhardt coaster I wussed out of). ( Photo by Linda Davidson/ The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Deputies Had Their Hands Full With Amusement Park Mayhem

Willis said that 14 deputies responded to the scene and that once the arcade had been cleared, someone yelled "Gun!" which caused people to run back inside the arcade.

A park statement obtained by 8News confirmed that "At no point were any weapons used or found to be inside the park," but that didn't mean there weren't problems for law enforcement.

"Next thing you know you have a flood of all these people we just kicked out of the arcade come rushing back in as we are trying to restore order and get outside to see if there is somebody with a gun. It was just mass chaos." 

This comes after similar incidents in the area including a stabbing at Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, Virginia, and more fights involving young people at a county fair.

"It seems to be this social norm now for this younger generation to just cause chaos and that is essentially what we saw," Willis said.

Back in my day, you went to the local amusement park to ride rides, eat food, and try — but ultimately fail — to kiss a girl. Not settle scores.