Train Kills Man Sitting on Tracks in Lawn Chair
SUN VALLEY — A 26-year-old man was struck and killed by a freight train Thursday after he reclined on a lawn chair he placed between the tracks, put earphones over his head and apparently waited for the train coming down the tracks, authorities said.
“When you sit on a lawn chair with your earphones over your head and the train coming at you I would say it was a suicide,†said Det. R.S. Uber of the LAPD Valley Traffic Division.
Michael Kevin McAndrew of Sun Valley died at the scene, said Scott Carrier, a spokesman for the Los Angeles County coroner’s office said.
“It appears to have been a suicide,†Carrier said, adding that the body has not been formally examined.
Police responded to the tracks on the 7700 block of N. San Fernando Road at about 8:40 p.m., Uber said.
Witnesses told authorities about seeing McAndrew sitting at the tracks, Uber said.
He said the train was traveling at about 38 mph and it honked its horn. A family member told police the man had been depressed and had threatened to commit suicide, Uber said.
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