Waterslide designer wanted in boy's death arrested in Texas

The architect of a deadly Kansas waterslide that decapitated a 10-year-old boy was arrested overnight at a Dallas airport.

U.S. Marshals took John Schooley into custody at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport after his flight from China touched down, the U.S. Marshals Service announced.

He’s currently awaiting an arraignment, CBS News reports, and will then be extradited to Kansas City, where he’s charged with second-degree murder for the 2016 death of Caleb Schwab.

The 10-year-old boy was killed nearly two years ago while riding on Schlitterbahn Waterpark’s “Verruckt,” a 168-foot water slide designed by Schooley.

Photos from the case:

But an indictment filed last month against the 72-year-old suspect found he “possessed no engineering credential relevant to amusement ride design or safety.”

He and Jeff Henry, co-owner of the Kansas City park, were also found to have rushed along construction of the 17-story death trap, which has sat idle since Caleb’s death.

The boy was killed when the raft in which he was riding went flying into the air, striking an overhead loop.

His father was Rep. Schott Schwab, a Republican state lawmaker, and the family was attending the park on a day in which admission was free for lawmakers.

Both Henry and Schooley were hit with multiple other felony charges, as were the park and former operations director Tyler Austin Miles, who was hit with an involuntary murder charge.

A Schlitterbahn spokeswoman disputed the allegations against the officials after Henry was arrested last week.

"We as a company and as a family will fight these allegations and have confidence that once the facts are presented it will be clear that what happened on the ride was an unforeseeable accident."

With News Wire Services