Escaping Kennywood: How one person describes being at the park during Saturday's shooting
Katherine Shaw figured it was part of the fun when employees began barricading doors and calling for help.
Katherine Shaw figured it was part of the fun when employees began barricading doors and calling for help.
Katherine Shaw figured it was part of the fun when employees began barricading doors and calling for help.
Katherine Shaw and her son wanted to end their Saturday night at Kennywood Park by going through a haunted house.
The family went inside looking for a scare, not knowing the real nightmare was outside.
As police swarmed Kennywood in West Mifflin, Shaw and her 12-year-old son, Aniston, said they were literally in the dark.
Watch the interview about this family's harrowing experience in the video player above.
"I think the whole night, your mindset in this is, 'Ooh, it's scary, ooh there is mannequins with blood everywhere and people with funky masks, and they are trying to scare us,'" Shaw said. "The whole night is about fun scares."
Just before closing, the Shaws ran into the haunted house. Shaw said they entered a room, and an employee barricaded the door. At that time, though, she still thought it was part of the act.
Shaw described an employee speaking on the phone as the shooting began: "'We are hiding. He's out there. We are scared.'"
She figured it was all part of the fun.
But then, things took a turn.
Soon, West Mifflin police were at the scene, responding to both the shooting and reports that people were trapped in the cafeteria out of fear.
Shaw said she remembers learning what was going on from a fellow parkgoer.
"I turned to a lady next to me who was on the phone, and she was frantic," Shaw said. "She says to me, 'There is an active shooter outside,' and my stomach just sank."
From there, Shaw said all she could do was wait and shield her son.
Fifteen minutes later, police came in.
"We were walking through a sea of policeman holding guns," Shaw said.
Looking at a photo taken a few hours before the shooting, Shaw reflected on feeling blessed, she said.
She said she feels lucky because her son "didn't have that trauma that so many of the kids did that night" of "being trampled and hiding in bushes and hiding in bathroom stalls. He didn't have to go through any of that."
Pittsburgh's Action News 4 asked Shaw if she would go back to Kennywood.
She said she isn't yet sure, but she did add that she felt safe up until the shooting and even noticed extra security throughout the night.
Three people were injured during the shooting Saturday at Kennywood.
Allegheny County police said they're still looking for the suspect responsible for the shooting. A weapon was recovered after the incident.
