Designer of Kansas water slide arrested after it decapitated 10-year-old boy

A waterslide in the water park where the 10-year-old boy died Source: Charlie Riedel

FEDERAL AUTHORITIES IN Dallas, Texas have arrested one of the designers of a Kansas water park slide that decapitated a 10-year-old boy.

72-year-old John Timothy Schooley was met by agents at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport late last night, according to Trent Touchstone, chief deputy with the US Marshals Service in Dallas.

Schooley will be held in Dallas pending his arraignment and extradition to Kansas on charges that include second-degree murder.

A Kansas grand jury last week indicted Schooley and Jeffrey Henry, a co-owner of Texas-based Schlitterbahn Waterparks and Resorts.

The indictment alleges Schooley lacked technical or engineering expertise in amusement park rides.

Caleb Schwab died on the 17-story Verruckt ride in 2016 when the raft he was riding went airborne and hit an overhead loop.

Audit

The state Department of Labor has said it plans to conduct a full audit of the water park’s inspection records before it reopens this Spring.

It said it will review daily inspections of rides by park staff at the Schlitterbahn park, before it is scheduled to reopen on 25 May for its annual season.

State law allows parks to have their own staff do daily inspections and to have private inspectors do the annual inspections, rather than state inspectors.

The inspectors doing the annual reviews must be either licensed engineers with two years’ experience with amusement rides, have five years’ experience in inspecting rides or have been certified by one of three industry groups.

The department said the audit will show whether the park has been conducting the required inspections and maintaining proper records on them as it prepares to reopen for the season.