Hassan Jihad Ibn Kariem, 42, worked as the IT manager, technology teacher and robotics coach at an Atlanta public charter school. He died Monday after falling from the Goliath roller coaster at Six Flags Over Georgia. Cobb County Police identified him Tuesday.
Police said they found a man beneath the ride around 4 p.m., “unresponsive and not breathing.” The department’s Major Crimes Unit said preliminary interviews with witnesses and employees indicate Kariem “was ejected from the ride and struck other patrons before falling beneath the attraction.” Several people were injured. Police didn’t say how many or how badly.
What Witnesses Saw
One witness told CNN affiliate WXIA that Kariem “fell and hit the car three different times” before landing on the roof of a haunted house attraction below. Another said he appeared in their souvenir ride photo. “He was in our pictures,” the witness said.
CiCi Nelson stood in line for the Goliath when a cart pulled up with an empty seat and riders in hysterics. She told CNN the empty seat’s safety bar appeared loose, and a young passenger seemed injured and covered in blood. A man was “freaking out, saying someone fell off” and urging staff to call for help, Nelson said. Emergency crews arrived quickly. Staff told Nelson and others to evacuate.
The Goliath is a hypercoaster that reaches 70 mph and 200 feet. Its park listing includes a 170-foot first drop, a 175-foot second drop and a 540-degree spiral. A waist restraint holds riders in place. There’s no over-the-shoulder harness.
Brian Avery, a University of Florida professor who specializes in ride safety and risk management, said a secondary restraint “should be considered.” He didn’t soften the implication. “If you have your primary fail, what are you left with? Yeah, nothing,” he said. “And it’s an impossible feat to stay contained if it did fail, because of the forces, the speed.”
Who Profits, Who Pays
The ride’s manufacturer, Bolliger & Mabillard, called the accident “tragic” and said it would have no further comment “until we have a better understanding of what transpired.” Avery described the Swiss firm’s safety record as “stellar.”
Six Flags issued a statement Monday evening saying it was “deeply saddened by the guest incident” and sending condolences to Kariem’s family. Its website says each ride undergoes “extensive inspection and maintenance procedures.” Park teams inspect rides daily, while third parties—including state ride inspectors, insurance inspectors and engineering experts—conduct regular evaluations.
The company moved quickly on the commercial side. A spokesperson told CNN the park will reopen Friday as scheduled. The Goliath remains closed. At least nine rides across several Six Flags parks in the US and Canada have temporarily closed, as has another at a former Six Flags park in Quebec. Six Flags said it closed similar coasters as a precaution and is cooperating with authorities.
The State’s Role
The Georgia Office of the Commissioner of Insurance and Safety Fire, which oversees safety inspections of amusement and carnival rides, opened an investigation. In a Tuesday statement, the agency said its team is conducting “an in-depth and comprehensive review to determine the circumstances surrounding the incident and to ensure full compliance with all applicable policies and procedures.” The statement frames the question as compliance with existing rules. It doesn’t address whether those rules require a second restraint. Cobb County detectives are conducting a parallel inquiry and have asked the public for information. Authorities haven’t determined what caused Kariem to fall.
The Worker Lost
Atlanta Public Schools confirmed Kariem worked for the district as an IT manager at Wesley International Academy, a public charter school. Executive Director Jason Marshall said the school community is “devastated” by the loss of a colleague who’d been “an integral part of the Wesley family for more than 12 years.”
Former student Soledad Gomez, who had Kariem as her computer lab teacher, said, “He never got mad at us ... He was always patient with us.” Kariem inspired her to pursue a degree in elementary education. Her brother Juan Pablo Gomez said Kariem’s class sparked his interest in information technology, which he’s now majoring in.
Kariem’s sister, Andrea Clark, 35, told the New York Post he’d been in remission from cancer since 2015, which is 11 years as of 2026, and had survived a car fire weeks earlier. “He had other issues, but he’s healthy, he was able-bodied. I don’t understand it,” she said. He worked hard to provide for his family and helped raise his fiancée’s daughter, whom he’d known since she was 3. “He could do it all,” Clark said.
She also condemned the circulation of images of her brother’s final moments. “That’s just evil,” she said. “It’s tragic, and I feel like we’ve gone too far as a society.”