Newtown Man Killed By Train In Apparent Suicide

The Westchester County, N.Y., medical examiner’s office has confirmed that a 49-year-old Newtown resident was killed on the morning of Sunday, June 12, when he stepped in front of an approaching northbound Metro-North train about two miles south of the Goldens Bridge train station.

Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) spokeswoman Marjorie Anders said that the man had parked his vehicle on Interstate 684 and then walked down an embankment before stepping onto the tracks in front of the approaching eight-car train at about 8:54 am.

The incident is being investigated as a suicide by MTA police, Ms Anders said. The man’s identity was not disclosed by the MTA.

The Harlem Line train had left Grand Central Station in Manhattan about 7:45 am and was due to arrive in Southeast at 9:16 am

The engineer who spotted the man on the tracks used the train’s emergency brake and sounded the train’s horn, but the train could not be stopped in time to prevent a collision, Ms Anders said.

About two hours after the incident, the passengers on the train boarded a second train which traveled to the site. The second train then transported the passengers to their destinations, she said.

The incident caused train service disruptions that lasted about 2½ hours.