UPDATED: Metra Train Strikes Man Near Central Street
On Sunday, Nov. 4, a Metra train struck and seriously injured a 36-year-old Chicago man near the Central Street station. Officials say the man was attempting suicide when he jumped in front of the train.
A Metra train struck a 36-year-old Chicago man near the Central Street station around 8 p.m. Sunday night, according to officials.
Evanston Police Cmdr. Jay Parrott told Patch that the man jumped in front of the train in an attempted suicide. He was taken to a local hospital, where he was in critical condition as of 10 a.m. Monday.
Union Pacific North train No. 824 was headed southbound from Kenosha, WI, when it hit the man on the tracks, according to Mike Gillis, spokesperson for Metra. He said train service was stopped for approximately an hour and a half as officials investigated the scene on Sunday night.
Gerald mimms
9:53 am on Monday, November 5, 2012
Hope the man is ok
J C
5:19 pm on Monday, November 5, 2012
I'm more concerned for the trains crew, Those poor people have to live with this idiot's decision.
Jennifer Fisher
5:24 pm on Monday, November 5, 2012
Thanks for your comments, Gerald and J.C. I've reported on far too many of these cases in just the past two and half years I've been with Patch. It's tragic for everyone involved.
Jim
5:42 pm on Monday, November 5, 2012
Should not the headline be, "Suicidal man jumps in front of train". Instead your headline implies some liability on the part of Metra. Ah, sensationalism. Ain't it grand!
Jennifer Fisher
5:50 pm on Monday, November 5, 2012
Jim, that's an interesting point. It's funny that's how you read it, because I was trying to avoid being sensational by not putting suicide in the headline. I see what you mean, although we do have the explanation in the subhed.
Jim
6:18 pm on Monday, November 5, 2012
I appreciate your efforts but it is a news item and should be reported as whatever the facts are straight out. Although I do not include you in my view of the media, It is my belief that much of the media has become somewhat "overdone" just as universities have become big businesses as has sport as have the professions. It is all too big to manage which may be why there are so many unintended consequences.
Jennifer Fisher
6:27 pm on Monday, November 5, 2012
Jim, I agree about reporting the facts straight out. I was trying to abide by some of the advice mental health organizations have for journalists reporting on suicide, specifically about what to put in the headline. Here's a link to one of the websites I've looked at: http://reportingonsuicide.org/ It's created by the Suicide Prevention Research Center.
Jim
7:14 pm on Monday, November 5, 2012
Ok. Argument accepted. However the real problem from a public health point of view is not that there are impressionable suicide vulnerable folks out there but that there is no functioning mental health system in the US and so no support system for marginal or depressed persons particularly in urban areas. In addition, when life becomes not worth living for a person, that person will end it regardless of what is said in the media. But I suppose you are correct as better safe than sorry. How about "Man Hits Train", tongue in cheek.
JB
9:30 am on Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Jim, you are correct about the train crew trauma. I once worked with a young man whose father and uncle and grandfather had all been train engineers. He worked as a conductor and when he had the chance to advance to engineer, he was distraught over the pressure from the family and his knowledge that it is pretty much a given in that occupation that "you WILL hit someone." I don't know what he did, but I ached for him and was surprised to learn how inevitable this situation is for train crews.