Possible Suicide-by-Train on Sunday
Man in His Sixties Died When Amtrak Runs over His Body near State Street
A northbound Amtrak train struck and killed a 60- to 65-year-old man shortly after 4 p.m. on Sunday afternoon near the railway’s intersection with Anacapa Street.
Santa Barbara Police Sergeant Eric Beecher said the victim was lying on the tracks when the engine made contact, indicating that the collision could have been intentional. The train involved stopped just shy of the Amtrak station on lower State Street, where City Fire and the police cordoned off the intersection to clean and inspect the train.
Calls to Amtrak’s national media center went unanswered, but an Amtrak station attendant expected the involved train to be moving again “any minute,” and another train bound for Goleta was held in Carpinteria for several hours. Beecher said Amtrak trains involved in collisions must switch conductors, further delaying the lines.
