16-Year-Old Boy Struck, Killed By Train In Jeannette
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JEANNETTE (KDKA) – A teenage boy was struck and killed by a train in Westmoreland County Tuesday morning.
According to emergency dispatchers, the Norfolk Southern freight train hit the victim around 7:30 a.m. near S. 6th Street and Magee Avenue in Jeannette.
The victim, identified by the Westmoreland County Coroner's Office as 16-year-old Jonathon Brown of Jeannette, died instantly of multiple blunt force injuries.
Norfolk Southern freight train sits idle after striking and killing a pedestrian in Jeannette.
More details in KDKA @ Noon pic.twitter.com/G7BlsNO8oE— Ross Guidotti (@RossGuidotti) September 4, 2018
People who live nearby say this isn't the first time someone has been hit by a train in that area.
John Keener, a 16-year resident of nearby Railroad Street, says a person was struck at the end of June at the 13th Street Crossing. That tragedy was determined to be a suicide.
But not all of those struck and killed are looking to take their own lives, neighbors say they simply are not taking the danger seriously enough.
"They keep cutting across there," said Keener. "It's a path way, it makes it shorter instead of walking up to the bridge."
Steve Miller, of Penn Township, says he uses the tracks in Jeannette as much as the freight trains that roar past.
"If you're not listening, obviously, you're gonna get yourself hit," said Miller.
Neighbors say there is an incredible volume of rail traffic that passes through the area, making it dangerous for anyone.
"Every half hour, there's freights all day long," said Keener. "They're fast. The freights usually go maybe 40, 45, 50 miles an hour. I don't understand why they do it, there's signs everywhere."
