CHICAGO — According to the Associated Press, a commuter train struck and killed a Chicago police officer as he investigated possible drug activity from a railroad overpass, authorities said.
The officer was hit at about 6:30 p.m. Wednesday by the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Train 1285 as it traveled through Chicago’s South Side.
Chicago police spokesman Pat Camden said the victim’s partner had warned him the train was approaching, but he was unable to step out of the train’s path in time.
The section of track where the officer was hit was elevated and off limits to pedestrians, Leyva said.
Steve Forsberg, a railroad spokesman, said company employees didn’t know police officers would be on the track. He said the company would interview all staff members on the train and check the event recorder in the locomotive to learn more about the accident.
“Any incident of this kind is an obvious tragedy, this one particularly so because a law enforcement officer was involved,” he said.
Commuters were stuck on the train for about two hours while police investigated the accident, Metra spokesman Dan Schnolis said.
The officer was a four-year veteran in his 30s. His name was not released.
No one on board the train was hurt.