4 Killed When Hit by Trains in Separate Incidents

Four people died in railroad mishaps, including a man playing “chicken” with a locomotive and a woman who fell under the wheels of a freight train during a pre-dawn walk, authorities said Saturday

Shawn James Schultz, 21, of Escondido was with a group of friends in Oceanside late Friday night when he lay his head on the tracks, Oceanside Police Officer Phil Tate said.

The Amtrak train bound for San Diego from Los Angeles was traveling at 30 to 40 m.p.h. as it moved through the city about 40 miles north of San Diego, Police Sgt. Richard Derouen said.

Friends Did Nothing

The friends did nothing as the engine ran over Shultz’s head, killing him instantly, because “the object of the game is to see how long you can stay down,” Derouen explained.

Tate said the engineer did not realize the train hit someone so he continued to San Diego. Schultz was a motorcycle mechanic who lived with his father, San Diego County Deputy Coroner David Lodge said.

Mary Louise Johnson, 30, of Temple City died before dawn Saturday after she tripped on one set of parallel railroad tracks in El Monte and fell into the path of an oncoming freight train, El Monte Police Sgt. Steve Schuster said.

Johnson stumbled the second time while trying to gather dropped belongings from the first fall in the city about 15 miles northeast of Los Angeles, Schuster said.

“It was still dark at the time,” Schuster said. “She just misjudged the speed of the train.

“She may have been going to work. She had a small bag of food, like a lunch.”

Victim Not Identified

A heavily tattooed man carrying no identification papers died Saturday after he was struck by a train in the San Fernando Valley community of Sun Valley about 15 miles northwest of downtown, said Craig Harvey, a county coroner’s investigator.

Harvey said the victim was believed to be in his early 20s. He was hit at about 3:20 a.m., Harvey said.

And the dismembered body of a man hit by an Amtrak train traveling at about 70 m.p.h. was found by Ventura County sheriff’s deputies near Oxnard. The victim killed Friday night had not been identified by Saturday afternoon, Sheriff’s Lt. Bob Gockel said.