Cobb County police has identified Hassan Jihad Ibn Kariem, 42, as the man who died after a fatal incident on a roller coaster at Six Flags Over Georgia on Monday.
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According to 11Alive, Kariem worked for the Atlanta Public Schools system, and according to his LinkedIn profile, he was a technology teacher at Wesley International Academy. In a statement, APS said his presence and impact would be “deeply missed by our students, staff, and all those whose lives he touched.” Family members told the outlet he was a passionate educator who loved his city and was invested in bringing families back together. That last part hits different when you think about how his day ended.
Here’s what authorities say happened. Officers working at the park responded around 3:58 p.m. and found Kariem beneath the attraction, unresponsive and not breathing. Cobb County police said early interviews with witnesses and employees indicate he was “ejected from the ride and struck other patrons before falling beneath the attraction.” The ride was Goliath, which travels at 70 miles per hour and drops twice, once at 170 feet and again at 175 feet.
Witness accounts paint a brutal picture. Onlookers say he struck the car multiple times and hit other riders before landing on the roof of a haunted house attraction below. One rider told 11Alive the fall happened near the souvenir photo camera. “He was in our pictures,” the witness said. Imagine posting up for a photo and realizing you captured something nobody should ever see.
Other riders were hurt too. As many as three people were reportedly injured when Kariem fell into them, and little is known about their condition. After the incident, several people were stuck on the coaster and had to be helped to the ground, and CBS News Atlanta cameras captured riders being evacuated from the ride’s largest hill using an emergency stairway.
The big question is still the one everybody is asking: how does a grown man come out of a coaster car? Nobody has answered that yet. It remains unclear whether the cause was mechanical failure, operator error, or something else. Police say their investigative team is conducting an in-depth and comprehensive review of the circumstances, and the department’s Major Crimes Unit is leading the probe. Police have also confirmed Kariem’s next of kin were notified.
Six Flags Over Georgia has seen its share of tragedies over the decades, and this latest one adds to a record the park will have to answer for.
For now, the focus belongs on a man who stood in front of classrooms and taught Atlanta’s kids how to navigate a world that runs on technology. Somewhere, students are trying to make sense of an empty seat. Their teacher went out for a Monday afternoon at the park and never made it home.
We’ll update this story as Cobb County investigators release more details.