MASON — A 17-year-old was arrested at King’s Island Theme Park for bringing a concealed automatic handgun early Saturday evening.
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An off-duty Mason police officer was at the amusement park when a woman approached and informed the officer of a suspicious activity. A teen reportedly slid a black shoulder bag through a fence opening north of the metal detection, entered the park through security, and then picked up the bag while inside the amusement park, the responding officer wrote in their incident report.
The woman believed the bag contained a weapon because of the suspect’s intent to get it into the amusement park without going through security, the officer continued.
Police entered the theme park on this tip and found a 17-year-old boy with the described black bag.
The officer approached the suspect and directed him to drop the bag; however, the suspect fled, heading to the parking lot, the incident report stated. As the officer chased the teen, the responder reported back to dispatch of the foot chase.
After approximately 20 to 30 feet of running, the suspect threw the bag on the ground. The officer picked up the bag while chasing him and discovered a handgun by the weight and outline of the object. No other item was inside the bag, the incident report stated.
More Mason units responded to the scene and blocked off exit routes, including backroads on the northwest portion of the property. Soon after, the teenager was apprehended and taken into custody, the incident report wrote.
The officer inspected the bag and found 11 rounds of bullets in the magazine as well as one round in the chamber. When cross-referenced with databases, the officer found that the weapon was reported stolen out of Cincinnati Police. It was later confirmed that the gun was stolen, the incident report said.
Mason Fire and EMS responded to the scene, but the teen refused care.
The teen agreed to speak with the original responding officer and informed the official that he was carrying the gun for a friend, who was also at the park during the incident. However, when officers attempted to search for the alleged owner of the bag, they were unable to locate the friend, the incident report stated.
The teen also stated that he ran away because he did not want to go back to jail, the incident report continued. He was out on juvenile probation from Hamilton County for aggravated robbery adjudication.
The 17-year-old was charged with Having Weapons Under Disability, Receiving Stolen Property, Obstruction of Official Business, and Criminal Trespass.
He was detained in Warren County Juvenile Detention Center.
He was also banned from King’s Island for life.
There was no further suspected threat following the incident.
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