A Morgan Hill man was struck and killed by a train Thursday
A Morgan Hill man was killed at 6:18 p.m. Thursday when struck by a southbound commuter train just east of the Monterey Road overcrossing.
Sgt. Dave Myers of the Morgan Hill Police Department said the death appears to be a suicide.
The Santa Clara County Coroner’s office said an official cause of death will not be announced until an autopsy is completed later today.
Two eyewitnesses told CalTrain investigators that the man laid his head on the tracks as the train approached. The train’s engineer initiated an emergency stop but the train could not stop in time.
The man was identified as Earl Leahy, 48, of Morgan Hill. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Train service to Morgan Hill and Gilroy was shut down until after 8 p.m., according to Jayme Kunz, CalTrain’s public information officer. Passengers were bused to stations in San Martin and Gilroy by the Valley Transit Authority.
Fewer than 75 riders were still on the Number 66 train as it approached the Morgan Hill station, due in at 6:11 p.m. The train sat on the tracks just past the accident site for an hour and a half, Kunz said.
The engineer whose train hit the man, she said, will receive support from CalTrain.
“We have employee assistance programs, peer-to-peer programs and counseling,” she said. Caltrain did not test the engineer for the presence of alcohol or drugs.
“We don’t always test for blood alcohol and drugs,” she said. “Two eyewitnesses said the person ran out and laid in front of the train, refusing to move. The engineer honked his horn and flashed his lights but wouldn’t get out of the way.”
Railroad authorities and Morgan Hill Police are continuing to investigate the incident.
Shortly after the incident police were called to the nearby intersection of Monterey and Old Monterey Road where two vehicles were involved in a collision. No one was injured in the accident.
