Waaaaaaaay back when I was in high school, I worked at Magic Mountain. We called it ‘Six Stabs Tragic Mountain’. I think there had been more than six stabbings at the park by that time (but still in the single digits, IIRC). Magic Mountain was a popular gang hangout, and there was a lot of violence there in the '80s. In 1986 there were six stabbings in one day.
So how many stabbings have there been at [del]Six Stabs Tragic Mountain[/del] Six Flags Magic Mountain?
First one I could find in the LATimes was 1979 at Valencia.
Your six in one day in 1985 were the next I found at Santa Clarita.
Next one I found was 1999–kid lined jumped to catch up to friends and a guy cut him in an argument. No biggie.
The park was always subject to teen gangs and rowdiness.
First one I could find in the LATimes was 1979 at Valencia.
Your six in one day in 1985 were the next I found at Santa Clarita.
Next one I found was 1999–kid line-jumped to catch up to friends and a guy cut him in an argument. No biggie.
The park was always subject to teen gangs and rowdiness.
I went to Magic Mountain five or six times when I lived in southern California and I didn’t get stabbed once.
I now feel as if I missed out on an integral part of the experience.
Don’t (or didn’t) they have any sort of anti-gang policies in place back then? Disneyland and Knott’s Berry Farm refused entry to anybody wearing gang colors. One of the rent-a-cops at KBF went a little too far and said “fuck it—I just won’t let any Latinos in at all.” Needless to say, all manner of hilarity ensued. Fortunately for KBF, the ACLU didn’t. There are even signs as you are entering The Mouse’s Sacred Kingdom warning that patrons wearing gang attire will not be welcomed. I once asked one of the security guards how they avoid getting accused of profiling, and he said with a big smile, “oh, we’ve got an army of lawyers working with us on this one. Our asses are covered.”
Were the incidents “at Valencia” and “at Santa Clarita” in the park though? If I remember right, Magic Mountain is technically in Valencia, but across the freeway from Santa Clarita.
Like Smapti, I also went to Magic Mountain many times and never got stabbed there. Furthermore, while there, I didn’t stab anyone myself. Smapti is curiously silent on that point.
The park was holding a “school’s out” all-night party in the park for LA high school students. 25000 attended. The incident occured at 2:15 A.M. near a dance pavillion. Two Valley gangs were involved.
One concern that sometimes gets raised is how one defines “gang colors” and what really constitutes a “gang” in a formal or legal sense. Is a social club that is known to have members that get rowdy some times or who are predisposed to occasionally commit crimes automatically considered a “gang”, or does it require that the organization in question have an unlawful goal as an official purpose? If not, how institutionalized does the illegal activity have to be before an otherwise lawful organization becomes a “gang”? You could argue that the Catholic Church’s institutional complacency with ignoring allegations of child abuse in the church constitutes an institutional disposition toward crime, making the Catholic Church a gang, resulting in priests’ robes, rosaries, and saint medals becoming “gang colors”.
Guard: “Sorry, you can’t come in here dressed like a Catholic priest.”
Customer: “I am a Catholic priest.”
Guard: “The Catholic Church supports pedophilia, therefore it’s a gang. No gang colors. Good day sir, or, on second thought, I hope you have a heart attack.”
When did you work there Johnny? I did my time there 1977-1978 working in Spillikin Corners!
Definitely, no little girls wearing plaid skirts allowed!
The Anaheim Police Department actually maintains a small station within the park boundaries. I suppose Disneyland’s private security can partially avoid those pitfalls by transmitting a picture to the real cops and asking them “you recognize these lads?”
'79, in the shop by the Gold Rush. Started on the floor, then became the store magician.
According to Wikipedia:
So the city of Santa Clarita didn’t exist until '87, but the whole area was probably known as the Santa Clarita Valley for a long time before that.
Whenever I go to Magic Mountain, I feel a sharp stabbing pain in my wallet area.
I went there in the early 70’s! I thought it was just beautiful, flowers and garden spaces everywhere, clean, and relatively uncrowded and quiet. That was my impression years ago, probably different now. I’m thinking gangs would like to hang out there because the regulations and security at Disney Land don’t put up with their shit. Sort of like jewelry stores that operate in a little plaza out on the edges of the suburbs get robbed, easy pickings, as opposed to jewelry stores right in the middle of a big busy mall.
Magic Mountain was quite new in the early 1970’s. I lived in nearby Saugus for a year (1968-1969), which IIRC is when they were just building it. It’s probably showing its age a lot more, now.
And I’ve seen them flashing their gang hand signs.
On a more serious note, you’re working at the gate and some guys come up wearing Chicago Bulls jackets. How do you tell if they’re Bloods or just a bunch of genuine Bulls fans?
If they’re Bloods, you’ll know when they stab you.
I used to go to Magic Mountain often in the late 80s and early 90s (my anti-Disney years) and never noticed any incidents. Some of my favorite teen memories were from that park.