Thousands of people from around the Bay Area gathered at Great America on Saturday, October 28 for the tenth annual Halloween Haunt. However, along with the crowd came violence, with fights breaking out around the entire park and police eventually having to enter the scene.

According to the San Jose Mercury News, 20,000 people were at Great America during the night of the riots. About 100 teenagers instigated the fights throughout the night, starting at around 10:30 p.m. and ending when the park closed at 1 a.m. Some students from MVHS were present at the Halloween Haunt and witnessed the incidents, including junior Adrian Enescu.

“I saw two groups that were about 20 people each running after each other,” Enescu said. “I heard someone from one of the groups saying, ‘they stole my phone.’ After that I saw people fighting and punching each other.”

Most fights didn’t result in many injuries but one was caused by a woman who used a taser against another women at the entrance of the ride, The Grizzly. Senior Ana Matoo was present at the fight as it was happening.
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According to the San Jose Mercury News, this particular fight started due to a dispute over a spot in line, since most of the rides during this event were crowded, with some people having to wait in line for hours at a time.

Along with the fights, there were also robberies occurring throughout the night. According to the Santa Clara police, there were 15 cases of theft ranging from snatching purses to strong arm robberies, with only one arrest being made.

Despite the events that occurred on Saturday, the park remained open the next day. Great America is not planning on cancelling Halloween Haunt next year, but instead is increasing security for next year.