FantasticLand

by Mike Bockoven

  Morgan was fine. We still keep in touch. We kind of hid out for the rest of our time in the park and didn’t worry about fixing anyone else. Besides, we were out of absolutely everything. There was nothing more we could do, so we watched the tarp burn, then played cards and talked like this terrible thing hadn’t happened.

  Like we were civilized again.

  LETTER FROM THE FLORIDA NATIONAL GUARD

  From: The Public Affairs Department of the Florida National Guard

  The Desk of Sgt. Steven A. Scott

  St. Francis Barracks

  82 Marine Street

  St. Augustine, Florida 32084

  To: Adam Jakes

  Reporter

  Regarding: Rescue of FantasticLand Facilities

  Mr. Jakes,

  I have been assigned the duty of answering your questions regarding the Florida National Guard’s operations in the rescue of 207 souls from the FantasticLand amusement park in the wake of Hurricane Sadie. While we have deemed a formal interview with command inappropriate at this time, I have been cleared to answer the written questions submitted last week. You will find the answers attached. Your interviews and the reporting you have done thus far have influenced the amount of information we are providing. The information was gathered from multiple sources throughout the National Guard, but we will not be providing attribution at this time. I will be your liaison should you care to have further contact.

  Our answers are underneath the questions posed. Good luck with your reporting.

  How was the situation at FantasticLand presented to the National Guard initially?

  The Florida National Guard was involved very early on in rescue efforts in the wake of Hurricane Sadie. In our coordination with the Red Cross, we began with the coastal regions and worked our way inland, as the coastal regions suffered the most structural damage and the greatest loss of life. As we worked inland, we had many reports of violence. These reports were treated seriously and each was dealt with in the order of proximity and severity of the reports.

  In the case of FantasticLand, we were alerted to the need for assistance from the Volusia County sheriff’s office on November 12. At this point in rescue operations, the abilities of the National Guard were outmatched by the need of the residents of Central Florida. The destruction has been well documented. Over twenty-five thousand servicemen and women from all branches of the military were deployed in the state during this time period. Given that FantasticLand was very far inland, and stores of food and water were available, it was not deemed a priority location. Those who remember taking the call from CCS roughly five weeks into the disaster remember the call sounded urgent and that the reports were “fantastical.” We were told to bring as many personnel as we could spare. Initially thirty-five rescue personnel entered the park. Hours later, another two hundred were dispatched.

  Was the FNG told by FantasticLand management to not send rescue personnel to the park?

  During our rescue efforts, we put out a call to different businesses and corporations with property and employees in harm’s way. The reason for these calls was to prioritize our rescue efforts. FantasticFun responded to our information request and put the FantasticLand property as a low priority. The reason they gave was, “There is enough food and clean water for the employees on site. We feel there is no immediate danger.” We responded accordingly and prioritized other sites.

  What was the situation when the FNG entered FantasticLand?

  We were given a report by the Clark County sheriff’s office that there was evidence of violence in the park and that force might be necessary to subdue perpetrators of that violence. We responded with full-body armor and assault weapons. As has been well documented through leaked images in the media, we did encounter several bodies immediately upon entering the park and found many more as we continued our sweep. Everyone in the park was led out in handcuffs, and other federal agencies, including the FBI, were contacted to help sort through the events that had transpired. We met no resistance from any individual inside the park. More than two hundred survivors were taken to a processing facility in Daytona Beach and remained there until authorities decided whether or not to hold them on criminal charges.

  Why was it necessary to take the survivors out in handcuffs? Were you met with resistance?

  See the above explanation.

  Can you tell us anything about the body camera video that was uploaded the day after the FNG entered the park?

  The person or persons who uploaded that video have been identified and properly disciplined.

  Can you give me a timeline of the day? I’m specifically interested in what portions of the park were visited and in what order.

  Personnel from the FNG entered the front of the park using transport specifically designed to handle standing water up to five feet. Access to the main entrance featured roads that were not available in other, more heavily wooded sections of the park. Once inside, we assessed the scene and immediately sent for reinforcements and specialized personnel. Our forces waited at the front gate for backup to arrive, and then the park was searched. Medical personnel had been called and arrived shortly after our initial reinforcements. Every single survivor in the park required some form of medical attention, with a range of issues beginning at skin irritation and ending with mortal gunshot and stab wounds. There is no way to account for the order in which the sections of the park were visited. The operational strategy was to send personnel to every section of the park and once the main population was cleared out, to do a more extensive search for survivors.

  Was the Dreamland Resort a target of the initial operation? If not, when was it visited, and did it stand out in any way?

  The Dreamland Resort was part of the second wave of operations and was not visited until the day after the initial rescue operation at the park. There were three dead bodies in the hotel, but the condition of the bodies was unremarkable based on what we saw in the rest of the park.

  Did the FNG take part in determining who to hold after the initial rescue?

  We did not. I would refer you to the FBI, the Clark County Sheriff, and other local law enforcement on that issue.

  Can you help me put this rescue operation in perspective in terms of size, scope, and cooperation among agencies?

  In order to get at the root of your question, context is needed. The FNG and every other law enforcement and aid organization was overwhelmed by the damage and need created by Hurricane Sadie. Every agency, every department, and every individual were stretched to their absolute limit by the needs of the survivors of this storm. Many in our ranks worked two to three twenty-four-hour shifts at a time before taking twenty-four hours off and going back to work. Collapse due to exhaustion was not uncommon. With that in mind, once the scope of the casualties was clear to the sheriff, we were called, and once we assessed the scene, we called in seven other agencies to help with the effort. Needs ranged from criminal investigation to hazardous waste disposal to large-scale medical aid, none of which we are specifically trained to provide. In the end, over ten agencies were called in. There were many rescue efforts due to Sadie that were bigger and several others that required this level of interagency cooperation.

  From your perspective, how did FantasticLand management and ownership respond in the immediate aftermath of your rescue efforts?

  The ownership of FantasticLand was immediately helpful, and their staff was able to assist us in our search efforts in the park. They recognized the seriousness of what had happened and reacted appropriately.

  Can you tell me anything about the reactions of the survivors upon rescue?

  While we did not encounter violence upon entering the park, there were individuals who were reluctant to exit. At no point did any of our personnel threaten force, and the small pockets of resistance were diffused quickly and through verbal means. Upon our initial sweep, we saw dangerous conditions throughout the park and removed everyone for their safety.

  That being said, there we
re many who were grateful to be rescued. We saw tears of gratitude and of relief as their ordeal ended. Many were eager to talk about their experiences to us and to other agencies. I can also tell you they were very happy to be dry and in different clothing.

  Was there any management inside the park you were able to identify?

  No, there was not. We were told later that Mr. Sam Garliek was in charge of the shift, but he was one of the last people removed from the park. He had locked himself in a manager’s station off the main entrance and had not come out for roughly two weeks, by his account.

  I have multiple reports of a single park employee who secured the weapons locker full of guns. Did you see many gunshot wounds upon entering the park?

  As previously stated, we treated many gunshot wounds. We also found a cache of guns on the grounds. As you are well aware, Sophie Ruskin was charged with many of the shootings in the park but had dozens of park employees attest to her innocence. We found no physical proof to tie the shootings to anyone, and now that the case is out of the courts, there is very little hope of finding and punishing the shooter or shooters responsible.

  How long were the employees who were initially released held in custody?

  All the agencies involved had a large mess to sort out, so the answer varies. They were free anywhere from forty-eight hours to six days after the initial rescue operation.

  How did your personnel react after the rescue of the park?

  You may attribute the following quotes to PFC Amy Poland, who was in the first wave and who has agreed to release this quote to the media.

  The initial challenge of clearing so many people from the park was so large that the larger implications of what happened didn’t sink in until much, much later. During the operation, it was all about finding the survivors and getting them to the next step in the rescue process. It’s much easier to ignore bodies hanging from lampposts when you have an explicit mission and other members of your team counting on you.

  We worked for days on end and rested when we could. When the job was finally done, the media had descended and we were asked many times how we “felt” going in there. It was still impossible to say because we hadn’t had any time to process what we had seen. Now that we are months and years removed, I have a greater perspective and I can say that, as a mother, what we saw was truly terrifying. To think our young people are capable of what we saw chills the blood for a very long time.

  How would you compare the response of the FantasticLand employees with others who were trapped by the hurricane for a long period of time?

  This is an excellent question and one that gets to the heart of this tragedy.

  The FNG responded to needs in dozens of communities up and down the Florida coastline. In some cases, flooding was worse than it was in FantasticLand. After several of these towns, we noticed a trend developing. Those who were stranded for some time would most often respond in one of two ways. Either they would bond or they would separate. Bonding led to joint efforts at survival, and hard-to-execute programs like food and water rationing and emotional support were able to be delivered within the community, oftentimes to a masterful degree. When people bonded they tended to stay alive longer.

  Those who separated did not benefit from the pooling of resources or talent and would often become desperate. It was not uncommon for the Florida National Guard to have to sort out attacks and murders, all of which we handed off to local law enforcement. The difference between the cases we saw and FantasticLand was the speed of the separation and then the subsequent rush to violence after that separation. The death toll in the park was grim. No one disputes this. But based on what we saw and how long they had to fight, it is a minor miracle that the body count wasn’t much higher, which brings us to an interesting idea: The employees of FantasticLand both bonded and separated. That makes the case unique.

  To elaborate, the employees enjoyed all the benefits of pooled resources and all the land mines of separation, and since they had more and better resources to share, what they were able to accomplish was much greater and much worse. We’ve never seen a case like it, in all honesty.

  We hope this helps.

  Sgt. Steven A. Scott

  INTERVIEW 20: TRAVIS BARNES

  Former Lieutenant in the Florida National Guard.

  I don’t remember where I got it or how or even why I turned it on. By that point, I had worked thirty-six hours in a row, and most of the mental faculties I had left were in service of not tripping over my own feet and shooting myself. Honestly, I don’t know where I got the body camera or why, but I do remember turning it on before I went into FantasticLand.

  No, wait. I do remember. I took it from some cop in one of the towns we were in. He thought it didn’t work anymore, that it had been ruined. I saw the tiny little camera was in a waterproof cover, so I asked him to give it to me, and he did. I think that’s how it happened. Honestly, I’m hazy on the whole thing. We were going from town to town, and I was seeing some of the most heartbreaking stuff I’d ever seen in my life. Dead babies, folks eating their pets, that kind of thing. I remember in one town, we went through this restaurant that we were told had survivors in it. We get there, and it’s crickets. Nothing. There had been gangs in this particular town that formed when it didn’t look like help was coming, so we had our guns drawn, and we were ready to throw down if need be, but there was no one in the joint. After searching about five minutes, I hear one of my crew yelling and run back into the kitchen where there are twenty people jammed in this huge walk-in freezer and they’re all dead. Apparently they were in trouble and hid in the freezer, thinking they could get out, and they couldn’t. There were a few men, but it was mostly women and kids. It wasn’t so bad to look at, but just the thought of having to watch your kid freeze to death, saying, “Mommy, I’m cold,” and “Mommy, I can’t feel my fingers,” knowing they were going to die … that’s what haunted me. Take that and multiply it by the fifty-two towns we went through before we got to that stupid theme park and subtract any meaningful sleep and you get the idea where my head was at.

  I had started turning the body camera on every time we all drew our weapons. See, we were not a combat unit. We weren’t hardened, muscled badasses. We were volunteers who could hold our own, but … I don’t know. I don’t want to say we weren’t trained for this, because we were, but I will say we never in a million years thought we’d have to do something like this. And after moving from town to town, not sleeping, it was a recipe for disaster. Someone was going to fuck up and badly. So the body camera was kind of for me. If something particularly egregious went down, I wanted documentation. I wasn’t alone, by the way. There are other videos out there. I was just dumb enough to upload it.

  So we’re going from town to town to town, and some aren’t so bad. The folks need help, and there’s plenty of injuries to go around, but all in all, they’ve done pretty well for being cut off from civilization for a little over a month. And then some towns, we go in and it’s Mad Max. There are gangs, and they’ve gone a bit out of their minds, and there are bodies, and they’ve sometimes done things with the bodies like hung them up. I remember in one town someone had duct taped severed arms onto more than a dozen street signs. I have no idea why someone would do that, or where he got the arms. Or what he was trying to get at. Or … just … after like, six, wouldn’t you stop? Why keep going? Anyway, at that point, you have to just clear the area and look at the State Patrol guys and say, “You’re no longer in danger. Good luck figuring out what the hell happened here.” I don’t envy anyone who had to clean up a mess like that.

  We had been told, “Get to FantasticLand when you get there,” so we hadn’t been avoiding the place, but we weren’t rushing there, either. We had a way of prioritizing our communities—it was an equation that involved how far inland they were, the population, likelihood of food and water scarcity, stuff like that. FantasticLand was in the middle of a bunch of areas that had fared pretty well, and we were all of the
attitude of “we’ll get there when we get there.” But then our CO called and said my unit was to drop what we were doing and get over there quick as we could. He also said there was evidence of violence, and so we were ordered to treat folks as hostile until we knew different. I know that might sound harsh, but you have to understand what we’d been through. The second town I went into, I forget the name, I had to shoot a guy who was coming at me with a knife. And the eleventh town. Forgive me for being in a draw-first sort of mood. I was never far from my rifle and with good reason. I’m going to leave it at that.

  We got the call on whatever day it was, early in the morning, and we weren’t far. I remember we were just north of the park, and we had started to notice how bad the flooding was. See, people think the flooding was all one level, but that’s not the case, not even close. Some cities had water up to your ankles, other up past your ass. I’ve been told it has to do with topography and water tables and infrastructure and all that. I don’t know, man. I own a body detailing shop when I’m not a soldier. What I do know is everything around the park was flooded and flooded badly, and you let that water sit for a couple of weeks and it’s nasty and disgusting. The sewage was the worst part. If I got paid by how many turds had floated by me when I was hiking through flooded areas, I wouldn’t be talking to you. I’d be somewhere high up in the mountains where I’d never have to wade through shit ever again. The flooding was bad, was what I’m getting at.

  We roll up on FantasticLand in the morning, about an hour after the sun came up, because the only thing worse than dealing with desperate, half-crazed people is doing it in the dark, and we’re expecting the worst. Like … I don’t know. Each place was different. Maybe they’d come at us with a cotton candy machine or something, but it was really quiet. We ended up meeting up with another battalion of Florida National Guard members that we knew were coming, and there were about forty of us total, which was a big number at that point. Our forces were split up from the coast all the way to Georgia. Also by that time, we had been supplied with hip waders that fit over our uniforms, but I don’t mind telling you they didn’t work worth a shit. We all had rashes and boils and I don’t even know what from wading through that water for so long, but we still wore them. The downside of the waders was they slowed you down once you were out of the water. That comes into play later.