FORT MILL, S.C. (AP) — A 14-year-old boy was shot and wounded in the parking lot of the Carowinds theme park by a man who drove to the park to attack the teen, sheriff’s deputies said.
The shooting happened around 7:15 p.m. Monday in the bus drop-off and pickup area of the park, said Trent Faris, a spokesman for the York County Sheriff’s Department.
The man fired several shots at the teen, hitting him twice in the abdomen before driving away, according to a police report released Tuesday.
The teen was taken to Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. There was no word on his condition but Charlotte Medic called the injuries life-threatening. His name has not been released.
The boy was shot by a man who told someone at a nearby gas station he was about to drive to the parking lot and hurt the teen, the report said. The report noted that two girls were fighting near the teen when he was shot, but it didn’t indicate whether the argument played a role in the shooting.
Authorities were looking for the suspect, whose name was blanked out in the report.
“We view this as an isolated incident,” Faris said Monday night. “I can tell you we believe it stemmed from an earlier argument that happened inside the park.”
He said the shooting happened as the park, which sits on the South Carolina-North Carolina state line, was closing.
“By the time we arrived, it was fairly calm,” Faris said. He did not immediately respond to a message early Tuesday seeking more information.
Carowinds spokeswoman Laresa Thompson told local news outlets that the park is cooperating with the sheriff’s office and Charlotte-Mecklenburg police.
The park was closed Tuesday and is now operating on weekends only under its regular fall schedule.