Man Killed by Metrolink Train in Apparent Suicide : Northridge: Witnesses tell police that despite repeated horn soundings, the pedestrian walked into the path of oncoming engine. None of the passengers were injured.

A San Fernando Valley man in his early 20s apparently killed himself Friday night by walking into the path of an oncoming Metrolink train that was bound for Moorpark, authorities said.

Witnesses told police that as the train neared Louise Avenue about 6:20 p.m. a man was seen walking along the center of the track, Metrolink spokesman Peter Hidalgo said. Repeated soundings of the train’s horn did not deter the man, Hidalgo said.

“He was walking eastbound and the train was westbound and he kept on walking right into the train,” said Sgt. Rod Grahek, of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Valley Traffic Division.

The train struck the man and threw him to the side of the tracks, Hidalgo said. “According to witnesses the individual did not expire until approximately half an hour later,” Hidalgo said.

Once it was clear the man was not moving from the track, Hidalgo said, the engineer attempted an emergency stop, but it took the 400-ton train about a quarter-mile to come to a complete halt.

None of the 300 passengers were injured.

Authorities said the man’s girlfriend, who was summoned to the scene, told police the man had been depressed and despondent and had talked of killing himself. He had two plans, she said. She said he planned to either jump off a freeway overpass or walk into the path of an oncoming train.

“We cannot take responsibility for someone who wants to take their life,” Hidalgo said. “It’s a very frustrating occurrence, especially when incidents like what occurred this evening cause significant delays for passengers on board the train.”

The incident marks the seventh time this year a person was killed by a Metrolink train, Hidalgo said.

Metrolink trains have struck and killed 26 people since operations began in 1992. Nine of those were determined to be suicidal, according to a Metrolink spokesman.