The 17-year-old Vancouver boy who was killed by a train early Monday morning has been identified as a junior at Mountain View High School.
Following an autopsy, the Clark County Medical Examiner’s Office issued a news release Tuesday afternoon that listed the manner of death as suicide. The Columbian is not reporting the victim’s name.
A team of counselors has been at Mountain View since Monday to help students deal with the death of their classmate, a district spokeswoman said.
Vancouver police were dispatched to the area at Southeast 164th Avenue and Rivershore Drive after someone called 911 at 2:42 a.m. Monday.
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BNSF Railway spokesman Gus Melonas said the westbound train was carrying oil from North Dakota to Bellingham and traveling 40 mph in a 50 mph zone when the crew saw a person in the crossing.
The crew applied the emergency brakes, but the train struck the person, Melonas told The Columbian on Monday. The flashers and gates for the train crossing were activated, Melonas said. The tracks were closed until about 6 a.m., delaying eight trains.
Two other Mountain View students were killed earlier this school year in a high-speed car crash on Halloween night.
The fatality is the second on BNSF tracks this year; the first involved a female pedestrian who died on New Year’s Day in Spokane. In 2013 and 2014 combined, Melonas said, more than 30 people were struck and killed by trains on BNSF tracks.
“We cannot emphasize enough to the public to expect train movement on any track at any time in any direction,” Melonas said.
