A young employee working the 3-Point Challenge at Carowinds was assaulted by five teens while returning from a bathroom break last weekend, according to a sheriff’s report.

   The 16-year-old male said he was almost back to his work station last Sunday night when he was “hit on the left side of his head by a black male he believed may go by the nickname ’Ta,’” the sheriff’s report says. The suspect struck him more than once, and the employee hit back.

   “When he began to hit back, he was then assaulted by three additional black males and one black female,” a sheriff’s report says. “All of them struck him about the head.”

   The victim said he went to the ground after the second round of assaults, an attack that didn’t stop until an older adult yelled at one of the suspects by name. He believes the adult was a parent.

   The teen worker told deputies that he believes the original attacker may have been in the same school he attended last year in Charlotte. He said there was a confrontation at that school last year.

   Officers did not observe any injury to the employee’s head, but he did have minor abrasions that were treated by Carowinds First Aid.

   The victim’s mother showed up, and the teen “was not completely forthcoming” and stated he was “through talking.” His mother encouraged him to tell all he knew, but the teen didn’t say much else. He told officers that he didn’t know why he was assaulted and denied it was gang-related, a sheriff’s report says.

   Carowinds officials said a video of the incident was captured by park cameras. The sheriff’s office requested a copy of the video, but it has not been released to the public.

No arrests have been announced.

Greg "Ricky Bobby" Rickabaugh has lived in the Fort Mill and York County community since 2006. He has covered the area while a reporter for The Charlotte Observer and a freelance writer for The Fort Mill...