‘Terrified to go back.’ People caught in Six Flags chaos reflect, question response

Jack Howland
·6 min read

Misty Peterson thought from all the commotion a roller coaster might have come tumbling to the ground inside of Six Flags Over Texas.

She and her girlfriend were sitting down for a meal with their three children and nephew on Friday night at a picnic table in the park’s Gotham City section, plotting their next Batman-themed rides from Catwoman’s Whip to Riddler’s Revenge. That was when, as Peterson recalled, people began frantically running past each other, many of them screaming with fear. She and her family stood up, alarmed, but couldn’t make sense of what had happened. Peterson’s first thought was a falling coaster.

“And then all of a sudden somebody goes, ‘Shooter! Run!’” Peterson said.

Some people who were in the Arlington amusement park later reported hearing the gunshots that Arlington police determined came from the parking lot, fired during a dispute between a group of teens.

Peterson was one of the scores of guests who reacted with adrenaline to the panic and chaos inside the park, fearing the worst.

Her family first ran toward a fence, which her nephew, who’s 15, hopped before dashing to a nearby Denny’s. Her children — ages 7, 8 and 13 — couldn’t make it over, however, so she and her girlfriend stayed with them. Peterson, due to her Army experience, kept a level head, she said.

As she ran to pick up the backpack that had her and her daughter’s inhalers in it, an employee at a Dippin’ Dots stand opened up the door to let her family in. They waited in the tight space with around 20 or 30 other people until they got the all clear, as Peterson and her girlfriend tried to keep the kids quiet.

“I wasn’t sure what to believe — all I knew was I had to protect my family,” Peterson said. “Trying to keep them calm and trying to make sure they’re safe.”

For Peterson and others at the amusement park on Friday night, the incident has raised questions about the company’s protocols for emergency situations like shootings. There were no messages playing over the loudspeakers, Peterson said, and — with the exception of the helpful employees — little effort made to guide the confused masses.

Peterson, a season pass holder, said she would like some sort of apology from Six Flags, or at least an acknowledgment of the pain caused by this stressful ordeal. Her two youngest children, she said, “are terrified to go back.”

Brad Malone, a Six Flags spokesperson, told the Star-Telegram in an email this week, “The safety of our guests and team members is our top priority.”

“Our staff and security team works year-round with the Arlington Police Department and other authorities to prepare for potential situations,” he said.

He didn’t answer questions specifically about the response to the March 19 incident, saying, “Since this is an active investigation, we cannot comment further on the details of what transpired.” He noted that firearms and other weapons are prohibited at Six Flags, and the park uses advanced technology to “conduct screening of all guests and their bags upon entry.”

He didn’t immediately respond on Thursday to a question about if Six Flags plans to apologize or reach out to customers like Peterson impacted by what happened.

Christopher Cook, an Arlington police spokesman, said in an email the department can’t comment on how Six Flags responded to the shooting in its parking lot. He noted, “Six Flags is not under criminal investigation.”

“We have a good partnership with Six Flags and have conducted two debriefings, similar to what we do with other venues such as AT&T Stadium, Globe Life Field/Park and other businesses,” Cook said.

Police have determined there was only one shooter, a teen boy, who fired two shots near the entrance of the park a little before 8:30 p.m. Another teen boy was shot in the arm and later showed up to a hospital in Dallas.

The suspect was arrested, police said, but his identity wasn’t released because he’s a juvenile.

Megan Rzetniewski, an 18-year-old from Fort Worth, said she was having a fun time at Six Flags with her 11-year-old brother and 21-year-old cousin up until the shooting. They had been at the park since around 2:30 p.m., using their fast pass to jump to the front of lines.

Rzetniewski saw dozens of people hopping over the fence after she got off the Titan roller coaster with her cousin. She went into a gift shop, she said, and saw more people ducking underneath counters and hiding behind racks of clothing. When she started to leave with her family, she heard people talking about a shooting.

The teen said she tried to stay calm, opting to walk out of the park with her brother and cousin instead of running. But it was a “frightening” experience, she said.

“I was pretty scared, mostly because there were tons of people who had left their kids maybe to have them ride another ride,” Rzetniewski said. “There were a whole bunch of people screaming for their kids and bawling their eyes out. It was very emotional.”

She later described what she saw at the park on Twitter, writing in a tweet, “That moment was so surreal and terrifying I am just glad my family is safe.”

‘I wasn’t going to let anything happen to you’

The scene on Friday night was like something out of a movie, Peterson said. The atmosphere, she said, “shifted or changed” in one moment.

Her girlfriend hurt her legs during the stampede, and her nephew injured his ankle jumping the fence. Her 7-year-old daughter and 8-year-old son were left feeling scared to return.

But despite everything, Peterson said, she plans on coming back soon with her girlfriend and her kids.

“We want to try and show them, ‘Look, it is a safe place,’” Peterson said. “I told my kids, ‘Look, two kids were being stupid in the parking lot. I wasn’t going to let anything happen to you, and we were actually safer in the park than in the parking lot.”

She said she called Six Flags’ national center for customer service to see if the company was going to do anything to rectify things for people impacted by the incident. The person on the phone, she said, told her they weren’t going to do anything about it, since it wasn’t considered an active shooter.

She’s not sure what she would like from Six Flags, whether it’s a refund or an official apology.

She would at least like some sort of a message about what happened, she said.

“I was talking to people that were at the park that night, and there was one guy who said it was his kids’ first time to ever be there, and they’re traumatized from this,” Peterson said. “At least offer something...you know?”

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