AUSTELL, Ga. -- A man celebrating a family reunion at Six Flags over Georgia said he was attacked over a seating dispute while grabbing food at the park.
Xavier Jones said he is a season pass holder at the metro Atlanta park. That's part of how this whole story first came to be. Most of his family was taking advantage of a deal that included a buffet at the park. However, since that deal didn't extend to season passes, he and two other cousins split off and headed elsewhere.
Jones said he and one cousin had already grabbed a seat under a pavilion in the Lickskillet section of the park as they waited for their third to sit down. They were able to accommodate one woman who had asked to sit with them but didn't have room for any others. But their plans didn't exactly pan out. Jones said someone sat down in the seat they were holding for their family member.
"A guy had sat down anyway and was very rude with us and, you know, it kind of just escalated from there," Jones said.
At first, the situation never grew beyond words. Jones said that between 5 and 10 minutes of argument ensued. He admitted some of what he said likely didn't help the situation. However, he claimed they had no intention of letting the argument grow further.
"After the whole situational argument I just wanted to get myself up out of there," Jones said. "I think I had just stood up, like, that's all, like I stood up, didn't put my hands up or anything."
Unfortunately, Jones said the confrontation took a violent turn from there.
"Some guy, out of the blue just came and, like, socked me in the face," he said. "And then there was somebody else and somebody else. And I'm just like bamboozled - didn't know what happened."
The assault left him on the ground with multiple injuries including an injured arm and a busted jawline. But he wasn't the only one caught up in the attack.
"My cousin, she was sitting with me at the table - she's 19 or 20 years old - she got hit in the face, I heard, by some older gentleman," Jones said.
Now, it's a matter for the police to find the attackers, though Jones said that might be tough since he was told there isn't any surveillance video of the attack - though he said hundreds were around them during the sudden brawl.
11Alive spoke to Six Flags representatives who said that while they can't discuss the details of the fight, they do believe it was an isolated incident and that the security team responded immediately. The spokesperson said the park has a zero-tolerance policy against violence.
While reports of major attacks at the park have been rare, the ones that have happened have been high-profile.
One such case involved a teen who was severely beaten outside the park in 2007. That attack led to a $35 million suit that was only settled in March 2018.
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