Thousands of Georgia residents headed to Atlanta’s iconic Six Flags amusement park on Monday, October 12, to enjoy the federal Columbus Day break, but some left with traumatic memories instead of happy ones.
Witnesses saw a tragedy unfold on the Goliath roller coaster shortly before 4 p.m. when a father was thrown from his seat, struck the ride car three times, and fell onto the roof of a haunted house below, losing his life.
The horrifying incident was captured in souvenir photos taken by a visitor.
The images have since gone viral, leading netizens to urge the person who posted them to take them down, arguing that sharing them disrespects the man in his final moments.
“You are what is wrong in this world,” one person said.
A father’s final moments at Six Flags were captured in a visitor’s souvenir photos
Goliath is recognized as Georgia’s tallest roller coaster, reaching a height of 200 feet.
The attraction opened in 2006 and reaches top speeds of 70 mph, challenging “even the bravest of the brave,” according to the Six Flags website.
The speed of the ride, according to parkgoer Logan Conner, who was riding with his fiancée, caused the man to levitate “sideways in the air” before his plunge.
“We made direct eye contact with him,” he claimed.
Brittany Landry, who was waiting to ride the Georgia Scorcher, said she saw “somebody fly out and just fly into the woods” from about 150 feet away.
“I broke down,” she said after learning of his passing. “I just broke down.”
Frank Brizzle, another guest who witnessed the ordeal, however, appeared less sympathetic.
Shortly after the incident, he posted photos on Facebook capturing the moment, with one snap showing the man flipped over his head in one section of the ride.
His shirt had ridden up in the middle of the chaos, exposing his backside.
“Dude fell off the Goliath ride at Six Flags and got caught bare a*sed in the picture LMFAOOO,” Brizzle captioned the post.
The backlash against him was swift and intense.
Netizens slammed Brizzle for his insensitive response, but he doubled down on his remarks
“There’s nothing funny about this picture at all, a*s crack or not,” one commenter wrote.
Another user urged Brizzle to “remove the image or at least blur his backside” out of respect for the man.
“The fact that you find humor in a man being ejected from a roller coaster and dying right in front of his child is sick. All for views on social media,” a third added.
A fourth dismissed Brizzle as “pathetic,” while a fifth suggested that “he needs his hard drive checked for the way he is so comfortable with making jokes about a gruesome accident.”
In response to the criticism, Brizzle wrote, “Ya acting like it’s 9/11 stfu lololol.”
He also wrote, “Humor is subjective.”
Safety precautions on the Goliath ride faced scrutiny after the guest’s tragic passing
NBC News spoke with Vanessa and Fred Showaway-Nemo and their friend Sebastian, who were at Six Flags on Monday.
The group said that when they first heard about a casualty at the park, they assumed it was a prank.
However, after seeing security personnel rush toward the location being discussed by other visitors, they decided to investigate and discovered that the reports were true.
They said they saw a girl emerge “with her very white skirt full of blood.”
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When asked how they would describe the experience to someone who had never ridden the attraction, Fred pointed to what he perceived as a lack of adequate safety restraints.
He said that whenever he rode Goliath, he noticed the absence of a shoulder bar or seat belt.
The ride relies solely on a lap latch to secure passengers in their seats, according to him.
“If that came up, then there’s nothing there. Nothing else holding someone in, and so it’s unfortunate that in this instance, it seems like that,” he said.
The group concluded by asking viewers to “pray for the family” and “for the ones that were on that car” when the accident occurred.
Six Flags released a statement offering condolences to the victim’s family
Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images (not the actual photo)
“We are deeply saddened by the guest incident at our park today. Our thoughts and heartfelt condolences are with the guest’s family, friends, and loved ones,” a Six Flags spokesperson told the New York Post.
“We are also providing support to the guests and team members affected,” they added.
The park said local authorities responded immediately to the scene and that it was fully cooperating with them in the investigation.
According to the Doan Law Firm, which maintains records of amusement park accidents and their victims, the incident would mark at least the seventh fatality at the Georgia venue.
One previous case occurred in 2006, when a man reportedly suffered a suspected heart attack on the Goliath roller coaster.
Six Flags has “temporarily closed” nine roller coasters across its six parks following the recent catastrophe.
“I’ll never get on another ride anywhere,” a netizen said
