Six Flags Great America shooting: Gunfire outside Gurnee amusement park leaves three injured

On Sunday, August 14, a shooting at a Six Flags amusement park in Gurnee, Illinois, left three people with non-life-threatening injuries. Two of them were hospitalized whereas one denied treatment.

While the incident is still currently under investigation, it is believed that the shooter may have fired gunshots from a vehicle before driving away. CNN reported that employees and authorities evacuated all visitors from the area.

Illinois authorities have not yet disclosed the names of the suspects or their potential motivations. However, a statement by Gurnee police revealed that they believed the shooting to be the culmination of a "targeted incident that occurred outside the park."

---

Six Flags shooting initially believed to be active shooter situation, later dismissed by police

As per WGN News, when gunshots were reported, some visitors at Six Flags believed that they were in the midst of an active shooter situation.

In an interview with the outlet, bystander Laurie Walker described her experience.

She said:

“(Someone shouted) 'there is an active shooter, get down, get down,' We didn’t know what was going on, so we get down.”

Walker told the outlet that she and her daughter, Grace, initially hid before promptly jumping over a fence and escaping.

Despite initial fears, in a later press release, Lake County Deputy Chief Chris Covelli said that the incident was not considered an active shooter situation by authorities, noting that the suspects fled almost immediately after firing shots and no subsequent shootings had been reported.

Charlie Donda, who was present at the venue, spoke to CBS about the shooting and recalled initially thinking that "there were fireworks," before noticing hundreds of people running to safety.

Michael Pontrelli, another man who was at the scene with his family, described the evacuation process to CBS and said that armed cops were running in and "escorting everyone out."

Rachel Kendziora, a Communications Specialist from the park, told CBS that due to several precautions taken by Six Flags, they were able to smoothly evacuate the area and minimise damage with the assistance of security personnel and Gurnee police officers.

Following the incident, Six Flags released an official statement noting the safety measures taken to deal with such incidents.

The statement read:

"Cameras placed in the parking lot and inside the park, uniformed and plain clothes patrols throughout the property, and advanced screening technology allow us to react quickly and provide important information."

It ended by thanking the Gurnee Police "for their on-going presence and commitment."

The Six Flags shooting comes on the heels of last month's Highland Park Parade massacre, which left seven dead and 48 injured during a Fourth of July Parade.