Carowinds closes early Saturday night due to ‘unruly behavior’ and gun rumors
Carowinds closed early Saturday night during its annual SCarowinds event after confusion over fears of a shooting inside the amusement park, officials said.
Despite rumors that shots were fired, Carowinds said in a statement that the park, on the North Carolina-South Carolina state line, closed around 11 p.m. due to “unruly behavior by several groups of minors,” according to the statement from the park.
The behavior “led to unconfirmed rumors of a threat to guests,” the statement said.
SCarowinds, which opened on Friday, was scheduled to end at midnight, according to the park’s website. During the Halloween attraction, the park sets up several haunted mazes and scare zones.
No shots were fired and no guns were found at the park, Carowinds officials said.
“This behavior did not align with Carowinds’ values and was not the experience we want any guest to have while visiting the park,” the park said in its statement said.
As a precaution, local law enforcement was on hand to help guests exit the park, Carowinds said.
“We will fully investigate the situation to see how we can adapt our current training and response protocols in the future,” park officials added.
Cedar Fair, based in Sandusky, Ohio, operates 13 amusement parks in the U.S. and Canada, which includes Carowinds. The 400-acre amusement park straddles North and South Carolina in Charlotte and Fort Mill.
This story was originally published September 18, 2022 at 3:45 PM.
