Man killed on train tracks in Van Nuys

You hit the mark Bill! It will be hard work getting him out of all of the nooks and crannies in the engine. I guess they will use a high pressure hose to dislodge any chunks that might be hanging around on the Metrolink. I think Metrolink should send his family a bill for the parts of him that got a free train ride today. My prayers go out to the poor engine scraper/painter guy and his family. I hope that he stays safe while he paints over the remnants of the idiot on the engine.

Mary wrote:

grow up people. the article's headline, as stated, was MAN KILLED.
so I repeat: WHO GIVES A FLYING LEAP WHO WAS LATE? Obviously the editors knew what element was NEWSWORTHY...
but no. your worthless bottoms are soooooo much more important.
Yes it's traumatic for the engineer. Yes the guy did something "inconsiderate." I'm sure in his suicidal depression, he was supposed to be concerned with whether people got to work on time. And I'm also sure that for his mistake, his children, parents, loved ones should all pay forever and garner no sympathy.. because after all, his death INCONVENIENCED soooo many losers for a couple of hours.
It has nothing to do with being cavalier about being late to work. It has EVERYTHING to do with being just a tad insensitive to HUMAN LIFE.
I repeat: GROW UP. TRY USING ADULT PRIORITIES.
or else pray nothing ever happens to anyone YOU care about... heaven forbid, you might be late to work if they die.

Adult priorities are being responsible and considerate. If you are severely depressed, get help. I was taught by my parents, teachers, and professors that we control our own destinies and that no one can help us if we won't help ourselves.

Tardiness is a problem in our society, I couldn't even count the times people I have worked with are consistently late to work, anywhere form minutes to an hour and not just once or twice.

Doing something senseless and unnecessary which further inconvenience hundreds of others and disrupts a major transportation artery such as rail lines, airports or freeways is inexcusable and indefensible. Keep your problems to yourself if you won't seek attention.

Yes, I would feel bad if it were someone close to me but I would even more so be ashamed that I had done nothing to prevent it. Sorry won't bring back a life and the best we can hope for is the lesson to learn what not to do.

Seriously, how can you NOT hear or see a train coming? I mean really!!! Wouldn't it be natural to know and understand that if you are near train tracks, you should be "aware of trains" in the area???? BTW Bob, great post!!

like I said.

GROW UP.

suicidally depressed people are concerned with a little more weighty issues than your morning commute.

and I repeat: WHY was the title of the article about the death? oh, and btw... when the article was written, it was not known it was a suicide.

Let's hope it's not your kid... I promise I'll be very very angry if he interferes with my morning commute, and I'll sue you for my inconvenience.

You people are truly sick. Let's hope you never need actual help... I'm sure everyone will be too busy getting to their all-important 8 to 5 to bother with your sorry LIFE... or rather, obvious lack thereof.

ddr wrote:

you go gril

funny you even spell wrong. Haha

Mary, is there something you need to discuss with a counselor? There are some over the counter pills available for your condition with the right dosage. People like you who go around being a martyre for the worlds problems who try involve everyone around them in these pointless guilt trips should all keep their opinions and dooms day issues between yourselves and the super size value bottle of pills that you will inevitably consume...actualy you fit the exact profile of someone who ends up in front of the train thinking your death will actually prove a point.

I wonder how many illegals and AP members(Armenian Power - the guys stealing your credit card information) could squeeze into half a mile and woud the train still run the full half mile.

I am sorry to read all of your carping and hand wringing. In this tragedy there are victims obviously the dead person suicidal or not .The driver. the people involved directly in the clean up.and the familys of all involved, to some degree or other. As for the pasengers and the rail company ,people delayed for a short time . This is but part of the great wheel of life. As an Englishman looking in at the U.S.A Im just thankful im in the UK where due deferance and respect are still valued and aplied .

I work for a commuter railway similar to Metrolink in Toronto, Ontario. We don't even notify the media about these incidents and we refer to them as 'Police investigations' the reason being others may contemplate doing the same thing to gain media attention.

Fortunately nobody on the train got hurt or killed. However, for those of you who don't have any psychology training, there is a lot we don't know. How mentally ill was this man? Was he like Alverez who just was found guilty of 11 counts of murder plus and received life in prison or was this guy who just got killed on the track truly so mentally ill he didn't know what he was doing? Depending on your answers and more information, you can say we are the masters of our own destinies, but if you truly knew anything about psychology, you would know that some people are too ill to do that. Some people who are severly mentally ill feel so good on their medication, they stop taking it which starts a downward spiral. Others are too sick to know they need medication. For those of you who don't know anything about psycholgy, go to www.psychlaws.org . You might learn something instead of some of you spouting off with talk on a subject you know nothing about. Usually someone who commits suicide is mentally ill. I feel sorry not because the folks were late to work, that can always be dealt with but those who have seen someone die close up and personal and those who have had to clean up the consequences. How do you people know this man never got help? Maybe he "cried" for help and nobody heard those cries. If you don't think that happens, think again. Sometimes there are warning signs. Sometimes not. It's not that easy keeping problems to yourself or getting help. It's not black and white. Obviously none of you who would even write that have any psych background (I do) or understand suicide or mental illness. Have any of you worked with mentally ill people? Have any of you worked with someone who would have dementia? What would you say about someone who had dementia (or maybe you don't know what that is) or Alzheimer's. They've been known to walk on the side of the freeways or just walk across the street without paying attention. Would you also say that there was no excuse or it was indefensible? Dr. Alois Alzheimer wrote once the diagnosis was made, the patient is 100% excused. Maybe (from the comments that have been made) the guy who committed suicide should have just cut his wrists or throat or taken a bunch of pills in his own house...sometimes it doesn't work that way.

Mary wrote:

like I said.
GROW UP.
suicidally depressed people are concerned with a little more weighty issues than your morning commute.
and I repeat: WHY was the title of the article about the death? oh, and btw... when the article was written, it was not known it was a suicide.
Let's hope it's not your kid... I promise I'll be very very angry if he interferes with my morning commute, and I'll sue you for my inconvenience.
You people are truly sick. Let's hope you never need actual help... I'm sure everyone will be too busy getting to their all-important 8 to 5 to bother with your sorry LIFE... or rather, obvious lack thereof.

Simply put for you Mary, if you are that concerned then do something. If there is someone you know who might need help, then get it for them, if you aren't up to it get them into a program. If everyone who is despondent decides to jump in front of a train, truck or bus, think of the economic consequences and the inconvenience.

As I said, if someone, anyone, dies needlessly it makes me sad, but if I were in position to prevent it and didn't I would be more ashamed of myself than sad.

Perhaps as someone else here suggested you yourself might have some issues that need attention. If so, please do, and no I'm not concerned about my travel plans, I'd hate to see you hurt.

Jose wrote:

Poor man now he must burn in hell for taking his own life. God says that you must not kill yourself now god will punish him for breaking his will. He will suffer more than he knows as Lucifer rains down his wrath upon his soul in hades. If he thought he had it bad now just wait till he gets a little taste of the afterlife in hell.

It is hell just to think that anyone goes there. God is Merciful as well as Just. The man may have had a mental problem, and God knows this. Heven & Hell are places people choose for themselves. God will not interfere with free will. Nobody wants hell. All of us wants heaven.

John wrote:

<quoted text>
It is hell just to think that anyone goes there. God is Merciful as well as Just. The man may have had a mental problem, and God knows this. Heven & Hell are places people choose for themselves. God will not interfere with free will. Nobody wants hell. All of us wants heaven.

You are right, the guy may have had mental problems.......or he was just a dumb sh&t!

Oh for Pete's sake, if you've decided to off yourself and you have 24 hours to choose from, is there a GOOD reason why you have to pick rush hour? Hellooooo, you're departing the world. Pick the last evening train please. Then Metrolink has all night to clean up your mess. Sheesh. Suicides are so inconsiderate these days. What happened to the old running car in the garage?

Ontario transit wrote:

I work for a commuter railway similar to Metrolink in Toronto, Ontario. We don't even notify the media about these incidents and we refer to them as 'Police investigations' the reason being others may contemplate doing the same thing to gain media attention.

I hear people jump in front of Japan's bullet train all the time and it not considered a "Media Event"
btw The people on that train were delayed about 2 1/2 hours. That doesn't exactly ruin your day.

All of you talking so much shit are fucked up. The man who died was my best friend's father.

Jose wrote:
"Poor man now he must burn in hell for taking his own life. God says that you must not kill yourself now god will punish him for breaking his will. He will suffer more than he knows as Lucifer rains down his wrath upon his soul in hades. If he thought he had it bad now just wait till he gets a little taste of the afterlife in hell."

Seriously.....how stupid can you be to even slightly believe such fairytales? Well on the other hand, animals like you NEED to be lied to and told of such fictituous afterlife stories and Good and Evil characters so you don't go out and kill, rape, and loot, because you're scared your own unintellectual non contributing ass will burn in hell if you do. It is very sad that some people have not evolved enough to be able to live a good life without the fear of the big bad wolf,, I mean the devil. Nuff said?!

A friend of a friend died when he was hit by a train. He was severely mentally ill and unmedicated. I am confident he was not thinking clearly about what time of day it was.

I don't dispute that this sort of act is selfish, but many people with mental illnesses don't know how else to be -- or don't have the cognitive capacity left over to think about it the way a well person would. Even garden-variety depression tends to leave its victims self-absorbed in destructive ways. This is not good for anybody, but there is no point in chastising them for it. It won't accomplish anything.

Mary, I think you are correct, but I also think you are wasting your energy.

Mother wrote:

Mary, is there something you need to discuss with a counselor? There are some over the counter pills available for your condition with the right dosage. People like you who go around being a martyre for the worlds problems who try involve everyone around them in these pointless guilt trips should all keep their opinions and dooms day issues between yourselves and the super size value bottle of pills that you will inevitably consume...actualy you fit the exact profile of someone who ends up in front of the train thinking your death will actually prove a point.
I wonder how many illegals and AP members(Armenian Power - the guys stealing your credit card information) could squeeze into half a mile and woud the train still run the full half mile.

Don't you dare playing the race card here, worthless trash.