Pedestrian hit and killed by WES commuter train
TIGARD, Ore. -- A 20-year-old man was killed Thursday morning after lying down on WES commuter train tracks in Tigard.
The man was hit by the northbound train at about 5:40 a.m., according to a news release from the Tigard Police Department. The had just left Tigard's transit center bound for Beaverton when the man was hit at Commercial and Main Street, Tigard police say.
It was an apparent suicide, police say.
Between 10 and 15 people were on board during the incident. No other injuries were reported, police say.
WES rail service was shut down in both directions. Shuttle buses are serving all WES stations.
WES trains will resume their routes for the afternoon commute.
I don't really think of someone deliberately laying on the tracks as a pedestrian.....
why do the headlines always make it sound like the train's fault? They could say... "Man lies down on tracks and is killed by commuter train" Make it his fault from the start !!Â
If we would allow clinically depressed people who have a history of failed treatment to apply for some version of the Death with Dignity act, (Waiting period, testing) I bet these public tragedies would decrease significantly. Suicide is not a spur of the moment decision for everyone who attempts or succeeds at ending their life. Commonly there is a lifetime of misery behind it. If you aren't wired wrong, you have no idea how hard it is to get up and face another day of utter hopelessness.
@Bobbi Thompsonand apparently the people who listen to you and off themselves in dark times, will never find out that things can and do get much, much brighter and better at a later time after they get the right kind of spiritual help.
@Bobbi Thompson ....how do you arrive at clinical depression? Failed treatment?
@RalphCramden & @PapaCharlieOrion - While I don't approve of harming and traumatizing others to suit your own purpose, I can at least be compassionate enough to understand that this kid was hurting. He was so young, had so much life ahead of him, and yet he felt that the only way to get passed his pain was to end his life. This is a sad time for everyone involved; the deceased, his friends and family, the conductor, other passengers, and emergency responders. Reprimanding the dead won't change any of the events that took place today. Please just try to be a little more understanding and a little less cruel.
@Sarah @RalphCramden @PapaCharlieOrion It makes me sad for the kid and his family, but I'm also sad for the WES driver and passengers, who may very well be traumatized. Â
@Sarah @RalphCramden @PapaCharlieOrion So true!  If half of the people criticizing the young man, instead, took the time to be involved in his life (or actively involved in the lives of others in their community), how amazing would that be?  I bet his family wouldn't be grieving right now and the driver suffering from shock.
I've said it before and I'll say it again. Â You never know when you smile at someone on the street the type of impact you might have on them for that day or the rest of their life. Â Maybe, just minutes before they passed you and were acknowledged by your smile, they might have felt that no one in the world cared about them.
@CTWU @Sarah @RalphCramden @PapaCharlieOrion Yes , even the littlest gesture has an Impact.Â
@CTWU @Sarah @RalphCramden @PapaCharlieOrion My experience says that people who are destined to commit suicide do it without the input of others who've tried to help them. Sorry, but it's happened too many times for me to think you can talk them out of it....but I WILL keep trying when I see it again.
Good Point -  we don't know the hurt he was feeling. I wonder where his parents were ?
Way to traumatize a bunch of people....selfish.
Why oh why didn't the train swerve to miss this poor unhappy soul who was just resting for a moment?
@Owt_Raged yes therein lies the inherent danger, you can't swerve a train, but you can stop and swerve a bus.
"It was an apparent suicide, police say."
Ya think!
This idiot is selfish and narcissistic to do this and put others through the trauma of having to deal with it.
@RalphCramden Yes of course, they felt so important that they took their own life. Would you say that about a schizophrenic who believed God was telling them to fly from a bridge and so they did? In the moment of deep depression or mental illness people often fully believe they are so worthless that to kill themselves is (in a warped way) a good thing for their kids/family/friends. People say suicide is selfish, because it hurts so many, but the person it hurt the most is DEAD. It is not an act done out of selfishness, it is an act done out of pain and hopeless despair.
@OliverNicholas
I can appreciate your comments. Some times life is just too painful to go on and this is the only way to end the pain.
But to make such a dramatic exit and bloody mess to clean up shows total disregard for others which unfortunately is one of the reasons people get depressed, they don't get enough attention.
@RalphCramden @OliverNicholas people severely depressed, are often not able to think things through in a rational manner. their brain is not working correctly, and they may be also under a literally dark spiritual force which tells them to do things (they may tell you this) and weakened enough, they follow through. depression is a very dark place, they are not aware that they can seek a brighter mindset and follow the light instead of the dark.
@OliverNicholas
The "right attention" is subjective. If it wasn't the attention he thought he should have then to him, it was no attention. That is part of the disconnect between the mentally ill and the mental health care workers.
Sometimes there is no way to help these folks and they decide to get out. The way they do it is very telling.
Like the loved one who chooses to kill themselves in the parents bedroom so that parents will not be able to live in that room again. Those are very selfish and designed to get back at people they blame for all their problems.
@PapaCharlieOrionÂ
His pain is over. That's what he wanted and that is what he got.
@RalphCramden @OliverNicholas Its not a matter of enough attention its a matter of the right attention, we don't pour gasoline on a fire to put it out and we don't treat wounds with hatchets instead of bandages.
Lots of good points.. things we dont normally think of to be considered. One thing for sure.. the whole thing sucks and I feel bad for the kid that he did this.
I can see the selfish.. can you explain the narcissistic part of it ?  Thank you.
@PapaCharlieOrion The 'without consideration for others' is something I think selfish people say who are only concerned with how hurt they are. How DARE that person kill themselves and cause me pain..... what about the pain and disturbed mental state the person was in - who actually committed the act? Do you REALLY think that a person who commits suicide is in a "reasonable and normal enough" state of mind to consider others? What part of 'death is an option' makes you think they clearly think of the pain it will cause and just dismiss it? Isn't it more logical that if a person is in such a state that they would kill themselves they are NOT thinking clearly and rationally and that includes the effect their death may have on others? I'll never clain it doesn't hurt others.. it does, terribly, but to say it is a selfish act implies the person considered that and dismissed it.
@PapaCharlieOrion
Narcissism is a personality disorder where one is concerned only about ones self and don't consider others. In this case he didn't think about the operator of the train, EMS who had to deal with his body, the medical examiner, the police and every other innocent person who had to deal with his selfish act.
http://thesaurus.com/browse/narcissistic
@SilverGuardian Please read below; I don't understand how some one in an irrational state of mind is expected to make rational decisions, the man laid on the tracks... and died, yeah how selfish - huh? Mental illness in this country needs to be taken seriously, and I'm not talking medicating our way out!
@RalphCramden @PapaCharlieOrion We aren't very self serving either. The people that choose to be slothful and apathetic aren't a bit self serving; they are drunk with "freedom" - the freedom to be listless - but not forever, its always followed by an unwelcome bondage, how charming.
@RalphCramden @PapaCharlieOrion I agree, Ralph, but narcissism in a person considering suicide (especially young people, I believe) isn't always clinical narcissism.  It can be a temporary thing that, if they manage to be kept from actually going through with the suicide, they later may recognize and get over.  I considered suicide once, and then a friend of mine actually DID kill himself.  It was amazing how quickly I recognized myself being angry at his selfishness.  I saw those around him suffering far longer and for more reason than my friend had, and it was a lesson that I have really tried to make sure anyone who seems depressed learns.  Suicide is, in fact, selfish, as you've pointed out.
@RalphCramden That's because back in your day, people were more concerned about crossing the plains in their wagons, and fighting the indians.
@PapaCharlieOrionÂ
Narcissism is on the rise. More and more self involved people that I can remember when I was growing up.
We have gone from a self sacrificing society to a self serving one which is predicted in the decline of advanced societies.
Thanks for the link Ralph.. I meant, I know what Narcissism is, I know a few people who display this type of behavor however I never ever thought that it would reflect over into ones personality where they display such violent behavior such as this crazy nutjob did.  He certainly in anycase wasn't concerned for anybody in this situation not even for himself. He was wanting suicide by cop but got attacked by Rin Tin Tin instead. Too bad the dog didn't go for the juglar.
Ok, this headline is total B.S. This guy laid down on the tracks to commit suicide. This is not even news. People kill themselves every day! Not even worth an article!
@nerdbyrd Shut it, nerd.  It is worth an article, if for no other reason than to let people know why the train isn't running, why their friends who were on the train may be emotionally (or even physically) shaken up, and may even make people look more carefully at friends who seem depressed and see if they can be helped.
Oh and for the integrity of journalism's sake (IF that exists anymore), this guy was no more a pedestrian at the time then the person operating the train was.
This headline bugs me to no end. It is total fluff and factually inaccurate.
Courtesy of Merriam Webster,
Definition of PEDESTRIAN 1: commonplace, unimaginative 2a : going or performed on foot b : of, relating to, or designed for walking <a pedestrian mall>
Since he was not in a motorvehicle, or a train, or a bicycle, he is by definition a pedestrian. Suck it up.
@pdxd YES, this person was clearly on foot and not on a bike or in a car. how do they think he got there, did he FLY? currently we don't have too many one word descriptors for reporters to differentiate that this person in the traffic lane was lying down, but how he got there is the way it is described: he walked.
By your definition, I guess anyone who can walk is a pedestrian at all times then, right? What a moronic post on your part. Seriously. He was laying down. He wasn't doing anything with his feet at the time except having them at the end of his legs. By your definition, I am a pedestrian as I sit here in this building in a chair typing this response. Seriously, terrible effort on your part. The guy was NOT a pedestrian when he was hit. Fact. Now crawl back under your bridge. I think the sun is out. It could burn you.
Would you call someone laying in the grass, or on the beach, a "pedestrian"? I wouldn't. This guy wasn't walking, or going, anywhere.
Do you think you'll be able to get over it, or will this stick with you all day?
Hey, it would just be nice if all journalists weren't trash these days.
When i said it bugs me to no end I meant in relation to "news headlines', not life in general. I'm all right.
I'm happy that you are able to just accept the shortcomings of people who would claim to be professionals. I would prefer journalists stick to what they are supposed to stick to. Facts. Not twisted distortions there of to grab attention.Â
RIP! I feel horrible for the train operator. If your going to end your life dont involve others it ruins their lives to. This is very sad all together.
"The had just left Tigard's transit center..."
Note to KATU staff - please proofread your article. You are lacking a word here. It's "train".Â
@washcomom excuse me, but is the train the only type of vehicle that uses the transit center? i think not, there are also buses. and the official designation is transit center. what's wrong with all these pseudo proofreaders who think they can one up on this specific stuff? haven't been very good at it, don't leave your day job.
@washcomom It's a transit center, because buses leave there too. Not just the train.
@washcomom Just like most of TriMet's other transit centers, it serves trains, buses, and shuttles. No not Space Shuttles.
Cars leave transit centers too. Aren't many of them Park & Rides?
@washcomom Don't give it away, make them work for it. Now they won't have a reason to poofwead.
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@Dr. Rawdog @washcomom The correct question here would be, "What other type of vehicle would leave a 'transit center'"?
Answer could be bus, train, mule.
There you have it. How many more lives will be lost to trains before we have an open and honest discussion about banning them?
Yawn.
I believe the cause of death was the person laying on the tracks, and thus being ran over. Should we then ban planes if people jump face first under a plane landing on the runway?
@pdxdÂ
Conspirator was just being sarcastic and referencing gun bans.
@RalphCramden I'm worried about you, are you going senile? I was responding with sarcasm to sarcasm.