17-year old decapitated by Batman roller coaster at Six Flags in Georgia

[Nitemare]

Originally posted by: marvdmartian

Originally posted by: Nitemare
Guess he didn't have his head screwed on right...

....and now it seems it's not screwed on at all!

I wonder if they'll give him head of the line privilege at wherever he's going?? :roll:

That would be thinking ahead

 

[GagHalfrunt]

Doesn't it seem odd that there are no images of this on the web? There were supposedly a lot of witnesses and many people have cell phones with cameras. I would have thought that some bloodthirsty teenager would have snapped a couple of pics of the aftermath and had them online an hour later.

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

Yayyy, I can come up with 'head related puns. Yayyy

 

[Queasy]

Update

The cellphone call came just as Asia D. Ferguson and his wife, Letha, finished lunch Saturday afternoon at a picnic area beside the east parking lot at Six Flags Over Georgia, which they were visiting with a church group.

Letha Ferguson answered.

On the other end was David Jenkins, a cousin, with the news the couple's 17-year-old son, Asia LeeShawn Ferguson, had been in an accident. A horrific accident.

"Shawn," as family and friends called him, had been decapitated by the Batman the Ride roller coaster at the Austell park.

The speeding roller coaster struck the Columbia, S.C., teen as it sped through a restricted area that he and another teen entered by scaling two 6-foot fences, ignoring warning signs, police said.

On Sunday, Shawn Ferguson's relatives struggled to comprehend their loss as authorities continued their investigation and Six Flags officials prepared to reopen the 11-year-old ride Monday. It was shut down after the Saturday afternoon accident, though the park remained open.

"We're awaiting the results of the investigation. We're going to have someone investigate, too," his father said. "We're not blaming the park."

The elder Ferguson had a hard time finding the words during a cellphone conversation Sunday as he and his wife rode home with other Sunday School members from Oakley Spring Baptist, a church of about 200 members in Springfield, S.C. The 67 young people and adults had come to Atlanta on Friday to sightsee and hang out at Six Flags.

"It's really hard for me to talk right now," said Ferguson, also father to Shawn's brother, Jacolby. "I'm really upset. I lost my oldest son."

Leaving Shawn's body behind for an autopsy on Monday compounded their heartache.

"It's real tough," Ferguson said. "My wife is still crying."

Jenkins, Ferguson said, hasn't been in a mood to talk about what happened to his cousin and what led the younger Ferguson to take an apparent shortcut.

Ferguson himself is at a loss to explain it.

"You don't know what's in a teenager's mind," he said. "Teenage boys do what teenage boys do. Sometimes they make some good decisions. Sometimes they make some bad decisions."

He said his son ? the fourth in line of Ferguson men named Asia ? was never in trouble.

Shawn Ferguson was an average student and a rising senior at Columbia's W.J. Keenan High School.

Ferguson said his son loved PlayStation 3, working out with weights and playing basketball. He also was avid churchgoer, played the drums, sang tenor in the choir at Oakley Spring Baptist and had a love for both gospel and secular music, including rap.

"He didn't do anything wrong," Ferguson said. "He was just in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Police said the teens had been inside the park earlier and were trying to re-enter without going to the front entrance. They did not identify the other youth.

They first scaled a decorative black iron fence that circles the entire park, then a chain-link one that encircles the ride. The fences are each about 6 feet tall.

The fences are posted with signs warning of a danger zone and a "restricted area" accessible only to authorized park employees, Six Flags said in a written statement.

The Batman the Ride roller coaster travels up to 50 mph as it takes riders ski-lift style upside down and on vertical loops, corkscrews and 11-story climbs.

Neither Ferguson's companion nor any passengers were hurt when the ride struck Ferguson.

His death is the second reported in connection with the ride since 2002, when a maintenance worker was hit in the head by a rider's foot as it passed overhead. The ride opened in 1997.

 

[Squisher]

I thought I read he was trying to retrieve a hat he lost on the ride earlier in the day.

 

[TehMac]

His death is the second reported in connection with the ride since 2002, when a maintenance worker was hit in the head by a rider's foot as it passed overhead. The ride opened in 1997.


:Q Wasn't this guy trying to grab someone's foot.

 

[archiloco]

Originally posted by: Squisher
I thought I read he was trying to retrieve a hat he lost on the ride earlier in the day.

that explains it.....

 

[MotF Bane]

Originally posted by: chusteczka

Originally posted by: Scarpozzi

Originally posted by: JackBurton

The boy was with a group from Oakley Spring Baptist Church in Salley, S.C.

I think the really question here is, what did the kid do to make Jesus so mad? Apparently the kid REALLY pissed him off.

Jesus can't stop teh BAT MAN!!!

Batman is ahead of Jesus.

This kid tried to get ahead of them both.

 

[rh71]

Teenagers are unpredictable. I don't know about simple stupidity / darwin / etc. Climb fences, get into areas they shouldn't be in - they will do things throughout their lives that shouldn't be done and the scariest thing is this could probably happen to anyone their age.

Now if he knew the ride was coming along any second/minute and he was trying to dodge it to retrieve something, then that's a different story.

 

[krunchykrome]

Originally posted by: TehMac
Why the fuck did he do that????


I just...I don't know. I have a hard time feeling sympathetic to idiots like that for doing something like that. What could he have been possibly trying to accomplish?

agreed

 

[AMCRambler]

Ahh man. That's pretty terrible. From reading the story it sounds like they were trying to get to the front of the line by jumping the fence. Probably didn't realize how close they were to the coaster. It was a dumb decision, but it's a shame it cost the kid his life.
I'm surprised the coaster goes low enough to the ground to take someone's head off, even if it is the restricted area, but I guess it kind of makes sense. If they needed a place to get people off the ride outside the station it would have to.
Imagine the horror of the people on the ride. I'm sure it wasn't pretty when it happened.

 

[moshquerade]

Originally posted by: AMCRambler
Ahh man. That's pretty terrible. From reading the story it sounds like they were trying to get to the front of the line by jumping the fence. Probably didn't realize how close they were to the coaster. It was a dumb decision, but it's a shame it cost the kid his life.
I'm surprised the coaster goes low enough to the ground to take someone's head off, even if it is the restricted area, but I guess it kind of makes sense. If they needed a place to get people off the ride outside the station it would have to.
Imagine the horror of the people on the ride. I'm sure it wasn't pretty when it happened.

that's what i was thinking. did they see the head hurling up into space? did anyone see it when it hit the ground?

sad, disgusting, and very unfortunate all at the same time.

 

[mageslayer]

He wasn't using his head.

 

[isekii]

The weird thing is why is the Coaster moving so close to the ground.

The kid was retarded for climbing two fences, but the coaster shouldn't be that low to the ground.

 

[RichardE]

http://mcgrathplace.com/coaste...erGeorgia/batman10.jpg


Seems to be alot of low flying spots where I could see someone jumping for legs and catching the leg rests. Kid shoulda used his head and though this one through, not very headstrong poor guy.

 

[BigJ]

Originally posted by: isekii
The weird thing is why is the Coaster moving so close to the ground.

The kid was retarded for climbing two fences, but the coaster shouldn't be that low to the ground.

And why exactly not?

 

[isekii]

Originally posted by: BigJ

Originally posted by: isekii
The weird thing is why is the Coaster moving so close to the ground.

The kid was retarded for climbing two fences, but the coaster shouldn't be that low to the ground.

And why exactly not?

Safety reasons.

 

[BigJ]

Originally posted by: isekii

Originally posted by: BigJ

Originally posted by: isekii
The weird thing is why is the Coaster moving so close to the ground.

The kid was retarded for climbing two fences, but the coaster shouldn't be that low to the ground.

And why exactly not?

Safety reasons.

List them please.

Some jackass hopping a fence, screwing around, is not a reason why these rides should be higher.

 

[MotF Bane]

Originally posted by: BigJ

Originally posted by: isekii

Originally posted by: BigJ

Originally posted by: isekii
The weird thing is why is the Coaster moving so close to the ground.

The kid was retarded for climbing two fences, but the coaster shouldn't be that low to the ground.

And why exactly not?

Safety reasons.

List them please.

Some jackass hopping a fence, screwing around, is not a reason why these rides should be higher.

In fact, it's proof that the rides need to stay low - enable Darwin.

 

[SillyOReilly]

Originally posted by: rh71
Teenagers are unpredictable. I don't know about simple stupidity / darwin / etc. Climb fences, get into areas they shouldn't be in - they will do things throughout their lives that shouldn't be done and the scariest thing is this could probably happen to anyone their age.

Now if he knew the ride was coming along any second/minute and he was trying to dodge it to retrieve something, then that's a different story.

It wouldn't happen to me at that age.

Don't speak for all of us.

 

[ArizonaSteve]

Well look on the bright side. He won't be needing his hat now, since he doesn't have a head to put it on.

One ticket, please...

 

[oddyager]

Sucks for the kid and his family. Tragic loss but clearly he was a dumbass.

 

[isekii]

Originally posted by: BigJ

Originally posted by: isekii

Originally posted by: BigJ

Originally posted by: isekii
The weird thing is why is the Coaster moving so close to the ground.

The kid was retarded for climbing two fences, but the coaster shouldn't be that low to the ground.

And why exactly not?

Safety reasons.

List them please.

Some jackass hopping a fence, screwing around, is not a reason why these rides should be higher.

It's not just about the jackass that got his head taken off.
What about the people that work to maintain the coaster ?

 

[BigJ]

Originally posted by: isekii

Originally posted by: BigJ

Originally posted by: isekii

Originally posted by: BigJ

Originally posted by: isekii
The weird thing is why is the Coaster moving so close to the ground.

The kid was retarded for climbing two fences, but the coaster shouldn't be that low to the ground.

And why exactly not?

Safety reasons.

List them please.

Some jackass hopping a fence, screwing around, is not a reason why these rides should be higher.

It's not just about the jackass that got his head taken off.
What about the people that work to maintain the coaster ?

And how is it any safer them being 20 feet in the air as opposed to being able to work on it from the ground?

The only difference is that they would have completely shut down the ride to do maintenance and you now have a safety issue doing work higher in the air.

 

[isekii]

Well for one, the workers who might just do maintainance around the coaster won't need to worry about getting hit by it. Also there could be errors where the coaster isn't completely shut down and actually running,

how about this quote from OP's post


"His death is the second reported in connection with the ride since 2002, when a maintenance worker was hit in the head by a rider's foot as it passed overhead. The ride opened in 1997."

If it was lets say atleast 15-20 ft in the air, would the worker have gotten hit ?