A man crossing tracks at a rail yard in Arkansas City was struck and killed by a train Wednesday evening, according to Ark City Police Capt. Tom Scott.
Gary Jennings, 50, died in the emergency room at South Central Kansas Regional Medical Center shortly after being struck.
Police and the county coroner determined the man intended to take his own life.
The incident occurred some time after 6 p.m when police received a report of a pedestrian being struck by a train in a rail yard just south of the U.S. 77 bypass. Officers searched briefly before finding the exact location of the accident.
Steve Forsberg, a spokesperson for Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway, confirmed the incident occurred around 6 p.m. The BNSF train was on its way from Kansas City, Kan. to Texas.
There’s is no railroad crossing in the area where the incident occurred, so the man would have had to trespass to gain access to the tracks, Forsberg said. The train’s crew, he said, reported the man crossed the tracks from east to west, did not respond to a horn and made no attempt to get out of the way of the train.
Scott said the man was hit by the train’s lead engine. The train traveled for another 150 yards before coming to a complete stop.
Police said little additional information will be released because the case was determined to be a suicide.
