Cop Shoots Teen Outside Six Flags Park During Crowd Control Response

A 15-year-old is recovering after they were shot by police responding to an "unruly crowd" of up to 600 people near the Six Flags Over Georgia amusement park. Syere Littlefield of College Park, Georgia was taken to Grady Hospital in Atlanta in critical condition following the exchange of gunfire, which occurred around 6:15 p.m. Saturday on the South Service Road, which is not owned or operated by Six Flags.

The incident occurred after Cobb County police were called to the amusement park in suburban Atlanta to assist Six Flags Over Georgia security with a large crowd within the park, Georgia Bureau of Investigation officials told Channel 2 Action News. An "unruly crowd" of 500 to 600 people was reported to be "running through the park and fighting." Several fights had reportedly broken out near the park's entrance as the crowd was leaving.

"At some point, multiple people began shooting, hitting an unoccupied CCPD marked patrol car," the GBI said in a statement, per ABC News. "As officers identified where the shots were coming from, they ran after people who had run into the woods. During the incident, one CCPD officer fired his weapon, hitting one minor."

Littlefield, 15, was shot in the exchange of gunfire and taken to Grady Hospital in Atlanta in critical condition. The teen's current condition is not known. The GBI said officers recovered a handgun near where they located the wounded Littlefield, but it is unclear if the teen fired the gun during the incident.

"It is incredibly disappointing that our community is disrupted at public events throughout the region by groups of underaged youth," Six Flags Over Georgia said in a statement. "Just like other venues in the area, we are committed to keeping this type of trouble outside our park and off our property. There was police activity involving gunshots; we want to confirm there was no shooting at our property or parking lot."

The company noted that the shooting occurred on South Service Road, which is not owned or operated by Six Flags but located just off the 290-acre theme park's property. The company said they "join our community and the Atlanta region in our commitment to safety and security. We won't put up with that type of activity here," adding, "Our goal is to provide safe, fun entertainment. We employ state of the art security systems and metal detection, maintain a robust and vigilant Public Safety Department, and have strong support from Cobb County Police who are present both inside and outside the park."