A sign of the times

[MiniMe]

Metro Train Hits Man at Shady Grove
Witnesses Say He Jumped Onto Tracks

Red Line riders are facing delays this morning after a man was hit by a train at the Shady Grove Station, Metro officials said. The train was headed to Glenmont when it hit the man about 9:50 a.m.

According to reports from witnesses, the man jumped on the tracks. About 20 minutes later, rescue crews pulled him, alive, from underneath the train and took him to a hospital, where WTOP is reporting he later died.

There is limited service at the Shady Grove, Rockville and Twinbrook Metro stations, with trains in both direction sharing a single track. Metro has set up a shuttle bus service to help transport passengers. Passengers can expect delays throughout the morning as Metro continues to investigate.


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Shady Grove is the Metro Station that I commute from. When I got there, the train had not been moved, and half the station was blocked off. Half the county police were there investigating. I talked to one of the Metro people who saw the whole thing, he just jumped. She said that the man lived for about 5 minutes and then died, so I don't know which story is correct. The train operator is a total mess, he had been working for Metro for 30 years. One correction, the train was coming into the station, not leaving the station. Not that it makes much difference.

I don't know what made the guy jump, the person I talked to said it was a middle age male caucasian. Job Loss? Foreclosure? We will probably never know. My best goes out to the train operator and his family, it wasn't his fault, and there was nothing he could do about it, but he has to be feeling it was his fault right now.

[LynzM]

1. That's very sad...

When I lived in Germany, it was much more common around University exam time... :( I hope that the train operator can get some help or counseling to deal with the grief.

[LiberalEsto]

2. OMG, that's right by us

What a horrible thing.

My husband commuted out of Shady Grove Metro for over 18 years, until he found a job this past October that's a 15-minute drive from our house.

Last night they called and told him his job is being eliminated as of Dec. 31. They're eliminating 30 people.

Looks like he may be commuting by Metro again, depending on when and where he finds work.

[Greyhound]

3. K&R, It is indeed a very sad sign of our times.

It is worth noting, and I'm sure has been by TPTP, that eventually the misery will be externalized rather than internalized.

military units being activated here, police being both militarized and unaccountable, social services (what few have survived) reduced to the point of being nothing more than a few make-work jobs for bureaucrats, education crippled, health care being defined as a luxurious privilege denied to tens of millions, criminalization of poverty, the list goes on. Ask yourself, "Where does this all lead"?

We are so screwed.

[charlie]

4. Right before the election

a 52 year old guy in my town jumped from a spaghetti interchange overpass. He left a note behind asking Obama to take care of his family. Naturally, the wingers loved the story -- liberal wuss checks out, expects gummint to do what he wouldn't. Of course, it was never reported why he jumped and nobody knows if he was a liberal, but wingnuts enjoyed a few days of happy harrumphing anyway.

[MiniMe]

5. OK, I'm calming down a bit now. My first throught was "Thanks George"

Whatever the reason the guy jumped, I'm sure in one way or another, Georgie had something to do with it. Chalk up another one for the WH.