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Shawn Clark (25) killed by freight train while 'hanging out' with friends near tracks
Filed Under:
Train-Pedestrian Accident
Published: Jun 23, 2009 @ 1:56 AM
Shawn Clark (25)
Date:
Jun 20, 2009
Cause of Death:
Train-Pedestrian Accident
Location:
Seattle, WA
URL:
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Friends of a man who was struck and killed by a freight train Saturday night at Seattle's Carkeek Park were back sitting on the tracks again Sunday to mourn the loss of one of their own.
The friends say they are in shock over his death and say they never thought a "freak accident" like that could happen.
The man was with his friends, gathered on the tracks that pass through the park, when the train came rumbling through just before 9 p.m. Saturday. The group scattered, but the victim didn't make it.
The King County Medical Examiner is withholding the man's identity pending the notification of his family. But his friends said he's a man in his 20s named Shawn.
The group set up a small makeshift memorial and flowers between the tracks and the shoreline on Sunday afternoon at the spot where he was killed.
His friends say they were all hanging out on the tracks Saturday evening - as they often do - to drink, chill and have a good time. They said they didn't think anything bad would happen because it never had before.
"We've got different amusements, different types of things that, you know, that kind of satisfy us and amuse us," said one friend, Antonio Quarter.
"We used to do this all the time. ... That's why everybody's in disbelief because, you know, like, we've done it so much that we didn't realize that a freak accident would happen like this," Quarter said.
The man was struck by a Burlington Northern Santa Fe freight train had just left Seattle bound for Chicago, said BNSF spokesman Gus Melonas. He was struck about 100 yards north of a pedestrian walkway at the park.
Melonas said the train engineer tried to stop when he spotted the people on the tracks at the park. But one man didn't make it off the tracks and the train couldn't avoid hitting him, Melonas said.
Several people heard or saw the horrific accident, including Mateiaullah Sali of Seattle, who was on the beach playing catch with friends.
"We heard the horn and everything and all of a sudden you could just hear the brakes squeaking and (the train) was stopping all of a sudden," he said. "We turned around and you could hear somebody just screaming in horror. There was a couple of people right there by the train tracks, and they had one of their friends who was unfortunately hit by the train."
Sali said he's not surprised that someone was killed, even though there are many signs all over the area warning people to stay off the tracks.
A pedestrian bridge over the tracks allows park visitors to safely walk between the park grounds and the beach. But Sali said many people walk over the tracks anyway, even though there are plenty of signs all over the area warning people to stay off the tracks.
"Something like this always seems to happen here. People don't usually take it seriously, saying the train's gonna hit you. ... They don't read the warnings out there - unfortunately he got hit."
Related Article(s):
Friends of man killed by train: 'Everybody's in disbelief'
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