6 Stabbed in Gang Fight at Magic Mountain Park

Six people were stabbed, four security guards assaulted and 20 people arrested in gang-related incidents early this morning at the Six Flags Magic Mountain amusement park in the Santa Clarita Valley, authorities said.

Spokesmen for the park and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said the stabbings apparently grew out of a dispute between two rival gangs from the eastern San Fernando Valley, who apparently decided to settle their differences at an annual “School’s Out” party attended by 25,000 Los Angeles-area youths.

Scott Piazza, a spokesman for Magic Mountain, said the flurry of stabbings began at 2:15 a.m., as the alleged gang members attacked each other near the park’s dance pavilion. Larry Ford, a spokesman for the sheriff’s department, said five men and a 16-year-old youth were wounded during the fights, which drew more than 25 deputies to the park.

The stabbing victims were taken to area hospitals, where one was treated and released and four others were admitted and listed in good condition. A sixth victim, Juan Morales, 21, of Pacoima, was listed in serious condition at Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital in Valencia with knife wounds to the chest and arm, a hospital spokeswoman said.

Ford said four members of the park’s security force were assaulted after the fights while they were attempting to escort the alleged gang members out of the park. One of those guards was admitted to Mayo Newhall for observation after she was knocked down and kicked in the head, Ford said.

He said deputies arrested 20 people in the wake of the fights, booking them on charges ranging from felony assault with a deadly weapon to misdemeanor trespassing.

Piazza said the incidents at the park involved only gang members.

“I don’t think it was related to the all-night party,” he said. “The party just happened to be going that night, and they were in the mood to do something.”