Roller Coaster That Beheaded Closed

Georgia Department Of Labor Officials Are Inspecting The Ride That Decapitated A 17-Year-Old

(AP)  Officials in the state of Georgia ordered a popular roller coaster that hit and killed a teenager over the weekend to remain closed Monday.

Asia LeeShawn Ferguson IV died Saturday at the Six Flags Over Georgia amusement park after police said he hopped two fences and wandered into a restricted area where he was decapitated by the Batman roller coaster. Police said an autopsy determined the teen's death was an accident. Toxicology tests could take several weeks.

Park officials had expected to reopen the ride Monday, but the Georgia Department of Labor took it out of service while inspectors conduct a preliminary investigation that could take several days, spokesman Charlie Schroder said. The agency is responsible for inspecting amusement park rides.

The park had closed the ride out of respect for Ferguson's family. No one else was hurt.

Police said Monday that they have ruled out reports from witnesses who said Ferguson jumped the fences to retrieve a hat he lost while riding the coaster. All authorities know is that the teen hopped the fences to take the shortest route to the Batman ride from where he was, said Cobb County police Sgt. Dana Pierce. Another boy who was with him was not injured.

A park spokeswoman said Ferguson scaled two 6-foot fences and passed signs that said the restricted area was both off-limits and dangerous.

[siriusly2]

Kennedy7955 has a valid point. It was this kid''s poor judgement that got him killed and is in no way the responsibility of the park. I''m sorry for the family as well, but the kid was old enough to know better. Actions have consequences, and if ANYTHING good is to come of this, it''s that other young people out there will be so horrified by this story that they think twice about breaking the rules and ignoring warning signs.

[chatarpatar]

What if that was your child and someone placed a comment like that about your deceased child..would you would have like that?!

ANJRMINE ... the kunttwipe!

As any RESPONSIBLE parent, Kenny 7955 will STRONGLY believe in teaching his/her children "What to do" and "WHAT NOT TO DO". Thus Kenny 7955 children WILL not do dangerously stupid thing like that kid did.

Yes children do stupid things many many time. BUT WELL TOUGHT CHILDREN DO NOT DO "DANGEROUSLY STUPID" THINGS !!!

There is another thing you and other NON Responsive parent MUST learn.. that is ... FACING THE DANGEROUS CONSEQUECES OF DOING DANGEROUSLY STUPID THINGS.

[anjrmine]

Whoever Kenny 7955 is....you are a total jerk! Excuse myself before I start cursing such ignorance out. My condolences out to the Ferguson family may he R.I.P. But look here Kenny. How the hell can you say that you heartless SON OF A ***!!! What if that was your child and someone placed a comment like that about your deceased child..would you would have like that?! No I don''t think so cause everyone makes mistakes and just because of that one mistake you wanna bash someones dead child! Get a life and grow up cause obviously you don''t have one *** HOLE! That''s right SHUT IT DOWN cause anyone can make that mistake...KENNY 7955 and anyone else I missed with a bad comment! I really feel for you at this point Ferguson Family...please excuse my position at this point I''m just so heated about all the negative critic talk and they just don''t understand that life isn''t just about having fun all your life....one little careless mistake can take ANYONE from this beautiful heavenly Earth today. I apologize

[edgardebbins]

I do know that sometimes in a situation where there is sudden intensity and unexpected stress, a fella can just lose his head.

[kennedy7955]

Yeah, close the ride because a stupid kid jumped 2 fences and got himself killed. If a kid jumps and electrical power station fence and get electrocuted, I guess we will be without power. Or a stupid kid runs into a highway and gets killed, we should close the highway. Or a stupid kid jumps off the roof of his house, the house is boarded up. You get the idea.

[tootall10142]

DIVACAR2 YOURE SICK AND FUNNY AND I WANT MORE PLEASE POST MORE RESPONSES : GOING TO GET MEDS NOW !

[ianlou]

Fences should be enough to prevent this, however
todays factory automation Robot cells use light curtain sensors to stop the robot if the light beam is broken, this type of technology is widely available and relatively inexpensive.

[ianlou]

And the Darwin Award winner is...

[libralady30]

Honestly...who has lost something on a roller coaster and not gone after it after you get off the ride or sent someone after it? I know there has to be a few out there. OR who has seen dumb kids trying to pick up change or cut through under rides with employees (also kids) cheering them on? This was an accident!! Not like the ride at Kentucky''s Six Flags where a cable severed off the legs off a little girl. That warrants a ride to close!!!!!

[ginahannon]

We watched the posted security video, and we think he got his head kicked off. Atleast that''s what it looks like. www.theseriouspolice.com

[dowjones20k]

Media headlines are so silly & irresponsible ... the headlines could have read ..

Rollercoaster arrested and placed in protective custody ... or

Rollercoaster said it did not see the pedestrian in the restricted area ...

What the headline should have said was ...

Teen ignores signs, scales two 6 foot fences, commits suicide ... or

Batman takes out ignorant teen ...

Why is it the rollercoasters fault?

The media always has to have a scapegoat or play the blame game ....

No more personal accountability ...

just lawsuits ..

PITIFUL !!!

[feelfree4u]

Re: "...he was decapitated by the Batman roller coaster."

I wouldn''t be surprised if this decapitation was linked to al-CIA''duh.

It has all the hallmarks.

[aggiekat2004]

Yeah, really...wouldn''t you think that TWO were enough??

Oh, but it''s not the kid''s fault. He couldn''t read. They should''ve had speakers blasting a warning to all potential perpetrators.

What''s happened to personal responsibility in this country?

I feel very bad for his family. This is a tragedy.

But when you see a warning that says "stay out," you need to pay attention.

[aggiekat2004]

feddupp...

All kids these days think that the rules don''t apply to them.

Thank Paris Hilton and all of these celebu-idiots who never have to pay for their bad decisions. We''re breeding a generation of kids who think they are above the rules and above the law.

[rushlimpdrug]

Well, I tip my hat to this good decision.

[jimbo554]

Oh jeez, I think we should close down the highways because somebody was killed in a traffic accident today.

[nothappyatall]

but I cant say Im unhappy that hes been removed from the gene pool.

Posted by ForASongCA "

Just think, and this is scary!! this one could have gone on to a career like airplane pilot, freight train engineer, bus driver or bridge engineer, you know like the 2 pilots who ignored all the signs and rough road, lack of runway lights to take off on the WRONG runway and wound up T boning trees at the end of the short road when they ran out of pavement and had a spectacular fireball, remember that?

Just think, YOU could have been a passenger on that plane!
Kids like this one was where those pilots got their start, but somehow they survived childhood unfortunately for other people, and wind up killing innocent people.

[nothappyatall]

"Police said an autopsy determined the teen''s death was an accident. Toxicology tests could take several weeks. "

LOL, they did an AUTOPSY to confirm the obvious???
WHo cares about toxicology tests, whether he was on something doesn''t make any difference, he STILL climed 2 fences, ignored signs and is still DEAD, and still an accident

"The park had closed the ride out of respect for Ferguson''s family."

So let me think here how that works, who decides what number of hours or days it closes out of "respect" ?
If 2 days is ok, why not 1 day? 12 hours? should they fly the 6 flags at half staff for one week or two?


"No one else was hurt."

Duh, only the idiot and we already knew that from the first report.

[feddupp]

I am SO SORRY for the parents and friends of this young man,
but I sincerely hope and pray it will serve as a LESSON to any teenager who thinks
rules don''t apply to them or that rules are made to be broken.

One dumb mistake and it cost his life and untold distress for his parents and, (if he had any)siblings, for the rest of their lives.

[trenticus-2009]

Officials in the state of Georgia ordered a popular roller coaster that hit and killed a teenager.

Shouldn''t this read: "Where a teenager got himself decapitated by trying to grab the feet of people on a roller coaster?"


"said he hopped two fences and wandered into a restricted area"

This should read: "He CLIMBED over both security fences and ran into a restricted area OFF limits to guest."