Kennywood shooting puts spotlight on park security, metal detectors

The triple shooting inside Kennywood Park has raised questions from park-goers and national security experts about the facility’s security measures and screening technology that is supposed to detect prohibited firearms.

An altercation between two groups of juveniles led to a 39-year-old man and a 15-year-old boy being shot in the leg and another 15-year-old boy suffering a grazing wound about 10:50 p.m. Saturday night, according to Allegheny County police. A gun found near the shooting scene was stolen from a vehicle in Columbus, Ohio, about a year ago, police said.

Because firearms are prohibited at the park, some who were there that night are criticizing the security measures, and security experts are questioning the level of staffing and screening used.

Thomas Harrison of Irwin was at Kennywood during the shooting. He said security was “pretty awful” and suggested it wouldn’t have been difficult for someone to enter the park with a firearm undetected.

When he entered the park with his fiancée and parents, Harrison said there were five security lanes open and one person checking to see whether the metal detectors picked up anything. Anyone flagged was sent to a table, where two staffers searched through bags.

He said when he was in line, there were about 60 people entering the park.

More on shooting at Kennywood Park:

• 'It happened so quick' Kennywood shooting victim says in TV interview
• Gun found near Kennywood shootings stolen from Ohio vehicle, police say
• Fight between juveniles led to shootings inside Kennywood Park, police say

“With the large crowds of people that came through there, just a few people actually went through the bag check,” said Harrison, who said it took him just a few minutes to pass through security.

Kourtney Jones of Frostburg, Md., was at the park with her family during the shooting. In hindsight, she said, they all question the security protocols they saw.

She said they walked through the metal detectors with their keys and phones in their pockets, and nothing set off the detectors.

“We don’t see how they could have been working,” she said Monday, explaining that she had seen what she described as more sensitive metal detectors and stringent security guards at other venues such as courthouses and other amusement parks.

Kennywood issued a statement Sunday defending its security measures.

“Our entry security protocols include a state of the art weapons detection system put into place at the start of this season, video scanning and bag checks,” Kennywood said in its statement. “We regularly supplement our park security staff with officers from the Allegheny County Police Department and West Mifflin Police Department, who were contracted to support our teams during operating hours, including Saturday evening.”

West Mifflin police directed all calls regarding the matter to county police. County police Superintendent Christopher Kearns told the Trib five county police officers and two West Mifflin officers were working a security detail at Kennywood on Saturday night. Police have not said how the gun got inside the park.

Kennywood uses metal detectors from Massachusetts-based Evolv Technologies. According to a video posted by Evolv in May, the security technology company added Kennywood as a client starting earlier this year.

A statement Monday from Evolv said the company has been in contact with Kennywood to offer assistance. The company notes the case still is being investigated.

“We are deeply committed to our mission of making places where people gather safer,” the statement read.

Donald Maye is head of operations at IPVM, a trade publication based in Bethlehem, Pa., specializing in analyzing surveillance technology. He said the Evolv metal detectors typically detect ferrous metals such as iron and steel. They have different settings that range from less strict — where many metal items aren’t detected — to more strict, where basically any ferrous metal object would be discovered.

Maye said depending on the setting, Evolv detectors could let through certain metal objects, even possibly a small handgun. He said because institutions such as amusement parks don’t often experience shootings, companies might make the decision to opt for a less strict setting so that lines can move more quickly.

“The tradeoff there is always going to be appealing to the decision makers,” Maye said. “The tradeoff of lowering sensitivity settings is that weapons like guns can get through.”

Kennywood and Evolv on Monday did not address questions about security.

Chris Ragone, owner of Roanoke, Va.-based Executive Security Concepts, a security services firm, said some institutions hope the metal detectors and security guards will simply act as a deterrent and are not meant to catch every potentially illicit item.

“There are some venues that, in my experience, lower the sensitivity and don’t have properly trained screeners,” he said, explaining that people could walk through a security checkpoint with a weapon without setting off metal detectors.

Mike Olson is chief operating officer of Minnesota-based 360 Security Services and a former U.S. Secret Service senior special agent with more than 22 years of experience. He said metal detectors can be miscalibrated, set to a sensitivity level that is too low to be effective or be set incorrectly. If the people operating the equipment aren’t experts, he said, “that can impact the effectiveness” of how well they use the machines.

People also may be able to sneak guns through metal detectors in their bags, Olson said, especially if there isn’t an X-ray machine. If people are hand searching the bags, he said, it’s easy to miss a compartment or become confused by people trying to move items around in their bags themselves.

“If there’s not an X-ray machine working in conjunction with the metal detector, you’re relying solely on the experience of the person performing a hand search,” Olson said. “Human error is a big factor in the breakdown of a lot of security plans.”

Harrison said that security employees at Kennywood searched bags by hand Saturday.

Guns can also be disassembled, Olson said, which makes it easier to sneak them through a metal detector or bag search.

Even the most well-intentioned, thorough workers can’t be expected to properly screen people and their bags if they’re understaffed, Olson said. If there aren’t enough people working the metal detectors, he said, it’s easier for people to slip things by them.

Olson said it’s also important to consider what security looks like throughout the rest of the park. If other areas are unmonitored, he said, someone could toss a weapon over the fence or hide a gun near an unsecured exit.

“The use of metal detectors becomes very dangerous if the overall security controls are not there because it creates a potential false comfort,” Olson said.

He also questioned whether employees and vendors are checked for weapons, as they could sneak them in for friends.

Harrison and Jones said they wished there would have been a stronger security presence inside the park in addition to better screening at the entrance.

Jones and her mother, Ashley Spiroff, said they saw security personnel directly inside the entrance and on one other occasion inside the park. The pair recalled how the park was becoming loud and raucous even before the shooting.

“I don’t feel they had enough security for how packed the park was,” Spiroff said.

The park should increase its security presence inside and outside of the park, especially during night events, Harrison said.

“There are spots in the park where you can’t see at all,” Harrison said. “They need to have a bigger presence.”

Julia Felton and Ryan Deto are Tribune-Review staff writers. You can contact Julia at jfelton@triblive.com and Ryan at rdeto@triblive.com.