POLICE IDENTIFY ROSELLE PARK HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT AS TRAIN
FATALITY; IT IS TREATED AS SUICIDE
THURSDAY, MARCH 12, 2015
ROSELLE PARK, NEW JERSEY
The victim struck and killed by a train early Wednesday morning
was identified as an 18-year-old high school student, according to police.
Andrew Roa, 18, was pronounced dead at the scene early
yesterday morning, after a freight train struck him near the 300 block of
Seaton Avenue, Sergeant Dominick Frino said.
Preliminary investigation revealed that the young man was
walking along the rail road tracks as a west bound Norfolk Southern freight
train struck him at approximately 12:37 a.m., added Frino.
An autopsy performed this afternoon by the Union County
Medical Examiner, determined Roa died from injuries obtained from the incident,
the sergeant said.
Today’s fingerprint analysis results confirmed that Roa
was in fact the fatal victim, contrary to previous reports that Roa was
positively identified since yesterday.
Roa’s death is now being investigated as a suicide, as we
have suspected from the beginning. Who
in the right mind would climb the elevated tracks at midnight other than a
suicidal or crazy or disturbed or drugged or drunk person.
Schools and parents need to teach their children to respect
private property and especially railroads.
Many people have been killed by trains, so stay away and do not trespass
their property.
Source: rlsmedia.com
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MARCH 11, 2015
ROSELLE PARK, NEW
JERSEY
While railroad tracks have long held a cultural resonance with Americans, featured in motion pictures, TV shows, music videos and photography, they are private property. And they can be a deadly place. In 2013, 476 people were killed and 432 were injured in trespassing accidents, according to preliminary data from the Federal Railroad Administration.
"The administration, staff and faculty extend our
condolences to the Roa family and to all of you in the school community who
will be affected by Andrew's death," high school principal Sarah Costa
wrote in a letter that was emailed to parents this morning and distributed to
students this afternoon.
Roa was hit by a Norfolk Southern freight train shortly
before 1 a.m. today, on a stretch of track between Locust Street and Faitoute
Avenue, according to police.
The accident did not occur at a rail crossing. Roa had apparently climbed onto the tracks and
was trespassing there, said John Enright, spokesman for the freight rail
service operator Conrail.
The train that hit him was traveling westbound on Conrail's
Lehigh Line, which runs from Newark to Manville.
This is the second time in four years a Roselle Park student
has died after being struck by a train. In January 2011, a 16-year-old boy was
killed by an NJ Transit train on a different stretch of track, a death
authorities investigated as a suicide.
Costa said the school was providing counseling to students
and otherwise following a crisis plan, as students and staff mourn.
"Unfortunately, this isn't the first time since I've
been a principal here that we've lost a student," Costa said Wednesday
afternoon. "The staff's been trained, and we're counseling the students
and getting through the day."
Police are investigating the incident. An autopsy scheduled
for this afternoon has been postponed until Thursday, and no details on the
official cause of death were immediately available.
The accident caused some delays in rail traffic, but the
tracks were clear by around 6:30 a.m., Enright said.
This was most likely suicide by train when he went onto the
tracks at 1:00 am. He may also have been
drunk or on drugs or mentally ill. In any event, he will
not do this again.
Roa was one of two people hit and killed by trains today.
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ANOTHER SUICIDE BY
TRAIN. AN UNIDENTIFIED MAN WHO
AUTHORITIES BELIEVE HAD POSITIONED HIMSELF ON THE TRACKS AND MADE NO ATTEMPT TO
MOVE WAS FATALLY STRUCK BY A NJ TRANSIT TRAIN IN DOVER SHORTLY BEFORE 7 A.M.
MARCH 11, 2015
DOVER, NEW JERSEY
Authorities are investigating a fatality that
occurred on the New Jersey Transit rail line near Dover station this morning.
At about 6:53 a.m., Morris-Essex train 1002 was traveling to
New York Penn Station from Lake Hopatcong when it struck and killed a man who
was trespassing on the tracks just east of Dover station in Randolph, New
Jersey Transit spokesman William Smith said.
The preliminary investigation indicated that the man
positioned himself on the tracks and made no attempt to move out of the path of
the train, Smith said. New Jersey Transit police are handling the ongoing
investigation, he said.
No one aboard the train was injured, and affected customers
were accommodated by another train, Smith said.
New Jersey Transit first reported on Twitter at 7:30 a.m.
that travel was suspended due to a "trespasser incident," which it
later confirmed was a fatality.
Rail service on the Morris-Essex lines was suspended between
Hackettstown to Denville stations following the incident, but service resumed
at about 8:40 a.m., Smith said.
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NTSB TO HOLD FORUM ON THE DANGERS OF RAILROAD TRESPASSING
MARCH 11, 2015
WASHINGTON, DC
The National Transportation Safety Board will hold a
public forum March 24-25 on the dangers of trespassing on the railroad
right-of-way.
While railroad tracks have long held a cultural resonance
with Americans, featured in motion pictures, TV shows, music videos and
photography, they are private property. And they can be a deadly place.
In 2013, 476 people were killed and 432 were injured in trespassing accidents,
according to preliminary data from the Federal Railroad Administration.
The forum, Trains and Trespassing: Ending Tragic
Encounters, will be chaired by NTSB Board Member Robert L. Sumwalt. It will
feature speakers who have been seriously injured by trains; those whose
communities have been affected; and railroad employee assistance program
employees whose train crews have struck people on railroad property. The
forum will draw on the expertise of railroads, regulators, and researchers,
among others, to review the diversity of trespassing accidents and incidents
and look at current and future prevention strategies.
The forum will be held at the NTSB's Board Room and
Conference Center, located at 429 L'Enfant Plaza, S.W., Washington, D.C.
However, on March 25, the forum will include a tour of Norfolk Southern’s
safety train at Union Station.
More information about the forum can be found here:
http://www.ntsb.gov/trespassing
The public can view the forum in person or by live webcast
on the NTSB's website. As soon as they are available, an agenda and webcast
details will be posted.
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