Fights Force Early Closure at Knott's Berry Farm

July 16, 2022, 11:38 PM · Knott's Berry Farm closed early on Saturday evening after police responded to "multiple fights" at the Southern California theme park.

Local authorities found no evidence of any shooting in or near theme park, despite rumors of such. The Buena Park Police Department issued this statement shortly after 8pm on Saturday:

"We're currently working an incident at Knott's Berry Farm involving multiple fights in the park. A report of shots fired was reported with numerous 911 callers. Officers were on scene during the calls and determined there was no shooting.

"Knott's Berry Farm has closed for the night and we ask you avoid the area until further notice."

Knott's Berry Farm followed up later in the evening with its own statement:

“ The safety of Knott’s Berry Farm’s guests and associates is always our top priority. On Saturday evening, the decision was made to close the park 3 hours early due to unruly behavior and altercations involving a number of teenagers. This behavior did not align with our park’s values, and was not the experience we want any guest to have while visiting Knott’s Berry Farm.”

The park will open as scheduled on Sunday.

A drive-by shooting outside the park one year ago this month led to panic inside the park, as rumors of a gunman spread. That incident also blew up on social media as guests posted videos of people running in and out of the park.

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Replies (11)

July 17, 2022 at 12:13 AM

RIP Civility. We as a society need to take a harder stand against these thugs. Go the full court press of charges filed and make sure that charges are NOT dropped just because of a so-called over worked “system”. Knott’s had to close early and lost 10s of thousands of dollars in revenue because of it. So the park should sue these knuckleheads for every nickel. Can’t pay you say? Too bad. You own a car sell it. You own a PS5, sell it.
We are theme park fans and we deserve to have a safe place to enjoy, not having to wait, bracing for the next fool with a chip on his shoulder to cause a problem or heaven forbid “pop a cap”.
Send a message to the idiots and make it loud and clear.

July 17, 2022 at 3:27 AM

*Sigh*

This was a huge problem many Six Flags parks had last year that resulted in early closures on the weekends. I'd hate to see Knott's suffer similarly.

July 17, 2022 at 10:53 AM

So idiotic that a few idiots have to ruin the fun of thousands of other people. I can understand concerns on it getting even worse but still, have a beef, settle it later.

July 17, 2022 at 11:28 AM

@joseph "Thugs"? "Pop a cap"? Sounds like you've already made some conclusions about what the troublemakers looked like, huh Joseph?

There is a mental health crisis among teens and kids in this country.

July 17, 2022 at 12:02 PM

Thecolonel I would blame your assumptions of my thoughts to your own prejudices. The terms Pop a Cap and Thug have no racial specificity. Why do you assume I meant A specific race unless of course you were thinking it. It seems like you may be harboring your own racial biases. Just curious, you seem to assume to know my thoughts and what I am. Do you though?
Just for the record, I come from a mixed race family. Don’t assume you know me.

July 17, 2022 at 3:12 PM

so they really took the "ghost town alive" message to heart, huh?

July 17, 2022 at 4:21 PM

"The terms Pop a Cap and Thug have no racial specificity."

Hahaha, sure thing bro. Google "is 'thug' racist" and get back to us on that one.

July 17, 2022 at 6:33 PM

I thought the first rule of Theme Park Fight club was not to talk about Theme Park Fight club?

July 17, 2022 at 9:20 PM

keep your hands, arms, feet and legs inside the fight at all times. I think that’s the second rule.

July 17, 2022 at 9:38 PM

Actually thecolonel, the term thug is Indian in origin and Merriam-Webster defines it as “A violent or brutish criminal or bully”. That you equate that with a racial group is quite sad and telling.

July 18, 2022 at 1:35 PM

Not only do we have to worry about Knotts closing due to immature conduct, but I guess we also have to worry about TPI discussion threads being closed because we can't respect each others' opinions and feel the need to make radical accusations because of a contributor's word choices.

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