KANSAS CITY, Mo. (WDAF) – An attack at a Missouri amusement park has some parents questioning whether it’s safe to go back.
Twelve-year-old cousins were attacked at Worlds of Fun by what their parents described as a gang of girls. Their moms are demanding justice, saying the girls who attacked their daughters will do it again. They said the attackers were between the ages of 13 and 17.
The attack was caught on camera, and now, Kansas City police are investigating.
Sisters Chaunell and Chauntell Tillman said it was heartbreaking for them to watch the video taken Saturday of their daughters being attacked by girls they say they don’t know.
“She’s just defenseless. She did everything she could,” Chaunell Tillman said of her daughter. “She was definitely defending herself on the ground. So I felt like life left my body at that moment. I felt like my soul left because my job as a parent is to protect my child and I wasn’t there to do that.”
On what should have been a fun-filled day with their grandmother, Chaunell and Chauntell’s daughters left Worlds of Fun battered and bruised. The Tillman sisters found out during a tearful FaceTime call from their girls.
“And her face was all swollen, red, and it was like cuts on her, scratched up on her arms and her legs,” Chauntell Tillman said of her daughter. “I was just livid. Like oh my, I just couldn’t believe it.”
The girls got checked out at a hospital for injuries that included mild concussions, cuts and bruises.
The moms said the attack lasted six minutes. They’re upset that Worlds of Fun security didn’t step in to stop it.
“For three minutes she stood up getting punched in the head. Three minutes she got kicked in her face and her head, so I’m very blessed to say that she is still here,” Chaunell Tillman said.
In a statement, Worlds of Fun confirmed the incident happened, saying: “Park security and off-duty local law enforcement personnel responded immediately and appropriately. We are cooperating fully with local law enforcement in their investigation.”
A woman in gray can be seen on the video breaking up the brawl, getting between the girls and even taking a few hits herself.
“Black people stood around and was recording it and watching them, laughing,” Chaunell Tillman said. “A white woman saved my child’s life, and I thank her. And I hope she is watching this today, and I hope that I see her in court so I can give her a hug.”
These moms said their girls are carrying trauma no 12-year-olds ever should, and they want the alleged attackers to be criminally charged.
They added that they’re not sure if they’ll ever go back o the amusement park.