Worlds of Fun park goers recount terrifying Saturday evening

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) – As Worlds of Fun held its opening evening for Halloween Haunt, stories of a capturing despatched individuals scrambling to security. At this time, whereas KCPD says off-duty officer working on the park obtained stories of an individual listening to what they thought had been gunshots, they don’t have any proof of gunfire at the moment.

Zane Thygerson and Max Wisnoff say they had been excited to go to the park for Halloween Haunt Saturday evening.

“We had matching t-shirts and everything,” mentioned Wisnoff. “We go through a few haunted houses and at about our 5th one we hear there is a security breach. It was a little vague, so we weren’t too nervous.”

They were told they and others in the haunted house would have to backtrack to head to the entrance. As they walk past employees, they overhear there might be a person with a gun in the park.

“We leave the haunted house and at that point the gate to the haunted house is closed,” mentioned Thygerson. “We had to undo the gate, get out, then a frantic mother came by. She said her husband was in the haunted house and was asking if we saw him, saying they were split up. She told her kids to leave because she didn’t want her kids to know what was going on, but she told us there was a gun. At that point we thought we should probably just leave.”

As they headed towards the parking lot, Thygerson says they saw several cops run past with their guns drawn.

“People started running, freaking out,” said Thygerson. “People were running into stores, barricading, throwing down the metal grate.”

“It was a pretty intense experience, thousands of people sprinting all at one time,” said Wisnoff. “We’re running out, there’s children crying, people were separated. I was lucky it was only me and my friend, it was easy to stay close, but there were tons of people having to go back and find their kids and find their relatives. Walking out was a crazy experience. There must have been a hundred police cars. Hundreds of police officers. A lot of people were falling over. There were a lot of people on the ground. People were getting detained. It was a surreal experience. Whether there was a shooter or not, it sure felt like it to the people who were there.”

Amid the chaos, Wisnoff recounts hearing lots of rumors swirling around as park goers tried to figure out what was going on.

“I heard someone say they heard 6 gunshots,” said Wisnoff. “Someone said there were multiple shooters. I heard people say they didn’t hear anything. Even the information out right now, it’s not 100% clear to me.”

Both say they are grateful to law enforcement for their quick response and to park staff for remaining calm and being professional throughout the ordeal. They both hope for more security to enter the park going forward.

“I do think Worlds of Fun needs to do a little bit more on the security side,” said Wisnoff. “From what I’ve been told, there used to be a clear bag policy, but there were a lot of people with backpacks, and I saw a lot of people get in without them being checked. There were metal detectors, but clearly if there was a gun in the park that didn’t help. Checking the bags and security definitely needs a little bit of reform.”

“I do think now with this experience behind us, the security measures are going to be heightened,” said Thygerson. “There will probably be a lot more of a police presence and people won’t have the ability to bring in objects that shouldn’t be in the park.”

Following the incident, a spokesperson for park owner Six Flags released the following statement:

“The safety of our guests and associates is a top priority. In response to an emergency call tonight, our safety protocol was initiated and all guests and associates are exiting the property. We are working closely with Kansas City Police and Clay County Sheriff and at this time there is no evidence to substantiate the claims.”

The spokesperson confirmed that “Several guests were treated for minor injuries sustained while exiting,” but no other injuries were reported.

An investigation into the incident is ongoing.

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