Police say train accident was 'apparent suicide' by Oak Creek man

Emergency personnel stand by at the scene of a fatal train-pedestrian accident August 28.

Emergency personnel stand by at the scene of a fatal train-pedestrian accident August 28. Photo By Jon Olson

Aug. 28, 2014

A train-pedestrian accident in Wauwatosa this morning seems to have been a suicide, according to an initial investigation by Wauwatosa Police. Police said the man who died was from Oak Creek. 

Police responded to the collision shortly after 8 a.m. in the 6000 block of W. State Street, where the man was killed by a westbound freight train. 

Canadian Pacific Spokesman Andy Cummings said the CP train crew saw the man on the tracks, blew the train’s whistle and applied the emergency brakes before colliding with him. 

The front of the train that hit the man was stopped for hours after the collision near 62nd and State, a couple blocks from where the collision reportedly occurred. Cummings said freight trains can take a mile or more to stop after hitting the brakes. 

Cummings said the man was not at a regular crossing, such as a street, sidewalk or driveway. A shallow ditch with shrubbery separates the north side of the track from the sidewalk on State Street but there is no fence. 

Karen Domagalski, operations manager for the medical examiner's office, said the police department's identification of the Oak Creek man was only preliminary, although the man's family had been notified. 

She said the office planned to complete an autopsy tomorrow before releasing identification information. 

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