The engineers and other employees of the South Shore must be having a hard time with all of this. My thoughts are with them, as well as the families of those injured or killed in the recent incidents.
http://thenewsdispatch.com/main.asp?Sectio...;ArticleID=7389QUOTE
12/7/2007 11:54:00 AM
South Shore SuicideGrand Rapids man left note in car
Laurie Wink
The News-Dispatch
SPRINGFIELD TOWNSHIP - In an apparent suicide, Erdin Elmi, 25, Grand Rapids, Mich., walked in front of an eastbound South Shore train taking about 35 passengers to South Bend.
John Sullivan, La Porte County chief deputy coroner, said Thursday night the Elmi died of massive head trauma after his head hit the corner of the train. He was pronounced dead at the scene by deputy coroner Karl Smith.
Sullivan said a suicide note was found in a car parked near the school. He said a MapQuest map with directions to the site and a South Shore train schedule were found in the car, along with the man's wallet.
Grand Rapids police have notified the family.
The incident happened at about 2:45 p.m. at the crossing on County Road 300 West, south of Springfield Elementary School. At that point, the train had reached its top speed of more than 70 miles per hour. The commuter train managed to stop about a quarter of a mile down the tracks and remained at the site while the incident was investigated.
The train engineer told investigators he saw a man hiding behind a utility pole, then run in front of the train as it approached. His body was found about 15 feet from the tracks by sheriff's deputies.
"I feel bad for the engineer," said Sullivan, who added he recently attended a seminar that examined how through a train engineer's career, they will be involved in four or five collisions.
Sullivan said it's difficult to slow a fast-moving train. And, he said, "You can't swerve with a train."
At the scene, Adam Zick stood alongside County Road 300 West near the South Shore crossing, trying to get information about the incident he earlier reported to a sheriff's deputy parked at the school. Zick, 23, Michigan City, said he was driving south on County Road 300 West at about 2:45 p.m. and was stopped at the flashing rail crossing signal. As the South Shore train approached, Zick said he noticed "a brown and black object" on the tracks and reported it to the deputy.
La Porte County Deputy Coroner Mark Huffman was at the scene, accompanied by Det. Pat Cicero, an evidence technician with the sheriff's department. Huffman said Thursday night that Elmi was wearing a black hooded sweatshirt, black t-shirt and heavy brown denim jeans. Evidence found in the man's car indicated he planned to come here, Huffman said, but for unknown reasons.
A Springfield Township firefighter who did not want to be named said he first feared the victim might be a student since the incident happened so close to the school.
John Parsons, Northwest Indiana Commuter Transportation District spokesman, said the train was taken back to Michigan City, and the 37 passengers still aboard were taken by bus to South Bend.
One later train was delayed by 15 to 20 minutes, he said, but the South Shore Line was back on schedule by 7 p.m. Thursday.
Thursday's fatality was the second in two days involving a South Shore train. On Wednesday morning, Charles Jones, 59, Gary, was killed when his pickup truck was hit by a westbound South Shore train at the crossing at the Porter-Lake county line.