Suicide Suspected in Death on Rails
Police suspect that a Los Angeles man who was struck and killed by a Southern Pacific freight train Friday committed suicide.
The 18-year-old man, whose name was not released pending notification of next of kin, lay down on the tracks and did not try to avoid the train, police said. He wore a camouflage jacket and shorts, Glendale police spokesman Chahe Keuroghelian said.
The accident occurred at about 3:30 a.m. near 400 W. Cerritos Ave., Keuroghelian said. The conductor sounded the train’s horn, but the man did not move, according to Southern Pacific spokesman Mike Furtney. The train was traveling northbound from Taylor Yards in central Los Angeles to the old General Motors plant in Van Nuys when the accident occurred, Furtney said.
The train could have been traveling at between 10 and 40 mph when it struck the victim, he said.
The tracks were reopened at about 7 a.m., Metrolink spokesman Peter Hidalgo said.
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