A shocking link has emerged between the woman punched in the face at Walt Disney World in front of horrified families and her attacker.
Matthew Edward Cameron, 22, was arrested at the Magic Kingdom theme park in Orlando at 9:40pm on October 19, 2024, after he attacked a woman during a visit to ‘the most magical place on Earth’.
Chaotic video, obtained by the Daily Mail, showed the aftermath of the wild incident at Casey’s Corner – a crowded hot dog stand eatery.
Now, a police incident report released to the Daily Mail reveals Cameron allegedly attacked his own mother, Diane Marie Cameron, 56, during an argument.
‘Diane said Matthew suddenly became upset with her and pushed the left side of her face away from him,’ Orange County Sheriff’s Department deputy Dominic Gonzalez wrote.
‘He then punched her in the left side of her face, knocking her to the ground and giving her a bloody nose.’
At the time, Cameron, from Burlington, Massachusetts, was arrested and charged with domestic battery.
But prosecutors dropped the charges at a court hearing on January 14. It is unclear why.
Video obtained by the Daily Mail shows the chaos in the aftermath of the incident at Disney World (pictured: a still from the video)
Matthew Edward Cameron (pictured), 21, from Burlington, Massachusetts, was arrested at Disney World on October 19
Pictured: Cameron’s mom, Diane (left), and sister Sarah (right) in Mini Mouse ears during a previous Disney World trip
Cameron was on vacation at Disney World with his mom and sister Sarah.
Eyewitness Michael Williams was standing nearby with his family when the incident unfolded.
He told police he saw Cameron punch his mother, so he tackled the assailant and held him on the ground.
Another witness, Matthew Remark, told police he also saw the attack and assisted Williams in restraining Cameron.
Officers arrived on the scene minutes later to find Diane with a bloody nose and red marks on her face.
Cameron admitted to the assault under questioning after waiving his right to silence, police said.
‘Matthew advised he punched Diane when he became frustrated after having an argument with her,’ the police report said.
‘Matthew advised he was not thinking when he punched Diane and simply did it out of frustration.’
Pictured: Chaotic video showed the aftermath of the incident with Cameron being restrained on the ground by other patrons
Pictured: One man kept restraining Cameron until a security guard arrived and led the suspect away
Diane told police her son ‘has suffered from severe schizophrenia for several years and sometimes experiences severe hallucinations’.
She said Cameron had hit her a few times in the past during some of those hallucinations.
The police report did not say whether Cameron might have been hallucinating during the incident at Disney World.
In the video, shot moments after the attack, Diane and Sarah can be seen standing a few feet away from Cameron, looking distressed and holding tissues to their noses.
‘Both women had bloody noses and were crying. I saw two small children crying and led away by a Disney cast member,’ the man who shot the video told the Daily Mail.
Cameron was lying on the ground being restrained by Williams and Remark, while witnesses were seen telling staff what had happened.
One of the men was seen kneeling on Cameron’s back until a security guard arrived.
The guard and Disney World staff surrounded Cameron and led him away.
The man who filmed the video, who asked not to be named, said a sheriff’s deputy arrived a minute or so after he stopped filming.
Cameron’s sister Sarah (pictured front) with their mother Diane Cameron (behind) during a previous Disney trip
Cameron (right) with his sister Sarah (left) and father, Edward (center), last year. The charges against Cameron have now been dropped
Pictured: Sarah on a previous trip to Disney World in 2022. She was present during the alleged attack
Cameron (pictured with his sister Sarah back home in Massachusetts) admitted to officers on the scene that he got frustrated with his mom and hit her
He said a ‘swarm’ of staff tried to shield onlookers from the chaos and ‘kind of built a wall in front of the incident’.
‘My family and I visit Disney parks generally every weekend. This was a rare occurrence at Disney, for sure,’ he said.
The man said he has noticed a ramping up of security across Disney venues recently, particularly at parking garages for the free Disney Springs shopping precinct.
‘In the past, we may have walked by a Disney security officer with a sniffing dog, but not all garages had a checkpoint with metal detectors,’ he said.
‘Now I believe all entrances to Disney Springs have an official security checkpoint.’
Cameron’s family appear to be regular visitors at Disney World.
His father, Edward, Diane and Sarah have all shared photos of each other on previous trips to the theme park.
Disney did not respond to a request for comment about the incident.
