Suicide attempt at Davis Square T, just after noon.

[hauntmeister.livejournal.com]

At 12:10 this afternoon, I saw a man jump in front of the incoming train at the Davis Square T stop.

He landed on the tracks about three-quarters of a second before the train passed over him. I saw him lie flat and align himself in the direction of the tracks, and pull his arms in. There's a slim chance the train passed over him and he's still alive. I don't know what the vertical clearance on those things is. At first I thought it was somebody pulling some sort of "Jackass" style graduation stunt, until I talked with the woman who was sitting next to him on the platform, who reported he was getting more and more agitated as they waited.

The area is full of emergency vehicles now, and I think that's a news copter circling.
Expect delays in red line service.

Comments

[hauntmeister.livejournal.com]

This has to be devastating for the train operator. He would have been just going about his business when somebody used his train as a suicide weapon.

I'm sure he'll have nightmares about this, and may never be able to drive a train again...Every time he noses into a station, he'll fear another jumper.

[ruthling.livejournal.com]

They had an article in the Globe a few weeks back about the problems experienced by drivers in such situations....ack.

[magid.livejournal.com]

I read that. They've got support groups for the engineers who have it happen... it's unfortunately frequent enough for there to be lots of support in place.

[mycroft.livejournal.com]

I've been told that most railway operators (think above ground, not subway) will run over someone during their career, and that the railroads pour an enormous amount of money into counseling and disability to deal with it.

Buckets o' fun.

[four-thorns.livejournal.com]

i've heard that train operators are told when they're hired that if they drive the train for a certain number of years, it's almost guaranteed that they'll run someone over in that time. so, they are warned. still sucks, though. i'm sorry you had to see it.