CROMWELL – A Cromwell man was killed midday Sunday after being struck by a train as he walked its tracks just east of Syracuse.
Police and medics were called just after 12:30 p.m. Sunday to the CSX tracks some 2,000 feet east of the Bishop Road railroad crossing, near CR 1250N, on a report that a pedestrian had been hit by a freight train there.
Crews arrived to find 21-year-old Daniel Garza Jr., of 9859 E. Camelot Lane, Cromwell, dead of blunt force trauma to the head and upper body, the Kosciusko County Coroner’s Office ruled.
According to a Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Department investigation, Garza had been walking west on the south edge of the tracks when a CSX freight train came up on him. The train engineer and conductor told investigators that he engaged both the train’s whistle and bell, then applied its emergency brakes.
Indications are that Garza did move out of the way of the train.
The CSX railroad police, which commonly will assume jurisdiction over investigations on their tracks, did not show up at the scene, and the sheriff’s department handled the incident.
Sheriff’s department spokesman Sgt. Chad Hill said the tracks were closed for about an hour as crews investigated. The freight train had to undergo a battery of safety inspections before it was permitted to continue on its way, Hill said.
