Authorities broke up a fight involving between 100 and 150 teenagers Saturday during the 50th anniversary season opening for Worlds of Fun.
An off-duty Clay County sheriff’s deputy working security at the amusement park heard reports of a fight between multiple juveniles and large crowds around 7:30 p.m., according to a news release from the sheriff’s office.
Park security and law enforcement reported they tried to break up the crowd of between 100 and 150 juveniles and remove them from the park, located near Interstate 435 and Northeast 48th Street in the Northland.
They said the kids continued fighting as officials attempted to move them out of the park. One teenage girl punched a sheriff’s deputy in the face, causing superficial injuries, the sheriff’s office said. She was arrested and released to her parents.
At one point, some children said another child had taken a gun out, but law enforcement officials weren’t able to verify the claim.
Sheriff’s deputies and Kansas City police officers broke up more fights in the parking lot and eventually dispersed the crowd. They said the park was cleared by about 8:30 p.m.
Its not the first such fight involving large groups of teens at Worlds of Fun.
In 2019, a crowd estimated by police to be around 300 teens got into a large brawl that required multiple law enforcement agencies to respond. The fights were caught on cellphone camera and police body cam, showing a chaotic mess that unfolded with dozens of sheriff’s deputies, police officers and other security workers responding to multiple fights and seeking to bring calm to an unruly crowd.
At that time, Worlds of Fun officials said they revoked at least 20 season passes as a result of the fighting.