Train Kills Man Lying on Tracks
A 71-year-old man committed suicide Saturday morning by lying down in front of an oncoming Metrolink train, authorities said.
The man was identified as Herman Rucker, but it wasn’t known where he lived or why he killed himself, said Lt. Terry Lewis of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
The train had just left the Lancaster station, making its first trip of the day to Los Angeles about 6:45 a.m., and was traveling about 35 mph when the engineer saw Rucker walking beside the tracks.
“As the train approached, the man knelt down and put his head on the tracks,” Lewis said.
The train was delayed for about two hours as officials from the Los Angeles County coroner’s office investigated the death, said Metrolink spokesman Peter Hidalgo.
The train was carrying 44 passengers, some of whom opted to take buses provided by Santa Clarita Transit and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to reach Los Angeles, Hidalgo said.
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