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 before,’ 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 suddenly dropped the charges at a court hearing on January 14. It is unclear why.
Cameron was on vacation at Disney World with his mom Diane and sister Sarah at the time.
Eyewitness Michael Williams was standing nearby with his family when the incident unfolded.
He told police he saw Cameron punch his mother and so he tackled him 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.’
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 or not Cameron might have been hallucinating during the incident at Disney World.
In the video, shot moments after the attack, Cameron’s mom Diane and sister Sarah were 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 just 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.
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 to 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.