The Phantom Fall Fest will resume at Kennywood outside Pittsburgh Friday with enhanced security measures following a shooting that left three people injured last weekend.
According to Kennywood, the park will:
- Double the number of police officers (Police previously said seven officers were on duty when the shooting occured.);
- Limit bags to 8 inches x 5 inches x 1 inch, with exceptions for diaper and medical bags;
- Install more lighting and security cameras;
- Increasing patrols around the park’s perimeter fence;
- Allow only surgical and N95/KN95 masks after 6 p.m.
The park will also expand its chaperone policy, which bans unaccompanied minors 17 and under. Instead of only applying after 4 p.m., it will be enforced at all hours when the park is open.
Allegheny County Police Superintendent Chris Kearns said investigators still don’t know how a gun got inside the park, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported. The park says its security system — which is also used at Six Flags parks, Hersheypark, and NFL stadiums and is supposed to detect weapons while allowing other metal items to pass through — was working properly Saturday.
Theme parks have not been spared from gun violence in recent years, but other incidents have occurred outside the park. Three people were shot in the parking lot at Six Flags Great America in Gurnee, Illinois, in August, while two teenagers were wounded in a drive-by shooting outside Knott’s Berry Farm last year.
Even rumors of shootings have affected parks. Carowinds in Charlotte, North Carolina implemented its own chaperone policy after false claims of an active shooter caused panic among guests and an early closure on the opening night of its own Halloween event.