Saturday, January 31, 2009

Female Hit By CTA Train @ Jarvis

6:22 PM: A 911 caller informed police a female was hit by a CTA train at the Jarvis EL at 6:22 PM. A minute later police dispatch was wondering over the radio why CTA personal never bothered to contact the police first.

By 6:27 PM, the CTA cut power to the train lines and police are blocking off the streets surround the Jarvis EL stop. Police are looking for train #2622 and witnesses. EMS was called to the scene. From the sound of things - I'm guessing this was fatal.

20 comments:

Robin said...

Did you just hear the part about the boyfriend?

The North Coast said...

You don't get many one-way tickets with a train.

This is a very sad event, and it happens all the time at CTA. We usually never hear about it. So far, there have been at least 4 suicides that I know about on the Red Line alone, in the past 3 months.

You know that a person is very, very depressed and in a hellish state of mind when jumping in front of a train is preferable to staying alive. But the journey is just not worth the pain for some people, and I really, really feel for them.

Scott said...

As of 7:06pm there are at least 5 fire trucks and over a dozen squad cars blocking off Jarvis from Ashland to Greenview. From my back porch, I can see about 10 police/firemen standing on the Jarvis platform. I don't believe they have removed a body yet. No CTA trains have passed by since the incident.

floss said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
The Dirty Business Bath Co. said...

I sat next to her and got on the train right before she jumped. This is very tragic, and I am glad I was not there to see her pass.

Sonia Roselli said...

I have a storefront right by the el. I was told it was a domestic dispute and that a man pushed her.

If this is true I am furious the CTA is covering this up. Domestic abuse needs to be reported every.single.time!

Craig Gernhardt said...

This whole "boyfriend" and alleged "pushing" part of the story needs to be examined by the mainstream media. I've been cut-off from being given anymore information by the police.

I heard over the police radio scanner chat the "boyfriend" wanted to come back up to the platform--but the police nixed that.

AvondaleLoganSquareCrimeBlotter said...

Domestic abuse? More like first (or second) degree murder. If the boyfriend pushed her onto the tracks purposely, then that's a murder. That guy is dangerous if he did that and deserves to be locked up for the longest time.

Fargo Woman said...

How come I'm not hearing anything at all about this on any of the local newscasts? Did this really happen? Are there so many death-by-CTAs that they aren't even newsworthy?

What's up? Cover up?

Is that just a silly rhyme or . . .

Jeff said...

Fargo Woman:

the fact that you're not hearing anything about this in news outlets should tell you this is a suicide. I as well live on fargo and can see the jarvis platform from my back window, around 7 pm both abc and wgn news were on the corner of fargo and ashland, when i walked by, i saw the camera man packing up, when i asked he said that it was a suicide and there would be no reporting. news outlets do not publicize suicides in order to cut down on copycats. but in fact they were there and ready to report

presstoe said...

What was that about bloggers being subpoenaed? I wouldn't be having this conversation here... it's sad and terrible, whether you knew her or not. This story seems like an investigation waiting to happen.

The North Coast said...

Fargo Woman, I wouldn't exactly call it "covering up" on CTA, but having once worked there, I can tell you that these deaths are very common,and even more common on Metra tracks, because it is so much easier for some unauthorized to get on Metra tracks. These events drive many people off the job at these two agencies.

CTA and METRA don't really "cover up" but they really would just as soon not every suicide and accident like this make it into the papers. Most of these events are suicides, so why publicize someone's very personal tragedy? It makes the agency look bad for something their people really couldn't have prevented, though once in a while they do manage to. People who off themselves this way are usually very determined to go through with it, and have made other suicide attempts in the past.

Yes, there are accidents, and there are crimes, like this might be. When it's a crime, a murder, yes, we have a right to know.

Fargo Woman said...

Thanks for the thoughtful and highly insightful responses to my post.

- PEACE -

Unknown said...

Just to clear up the rumors I see here. I was on the platform at the time. The young lady was not pushed by anyone. She jumped. Its very tragic and shocking, and keeps popping into my thoughts at the strangest of times. I doubt I'll ever forget it--I just thank God that I was facing west when she jumped so that I didn't actually see it. However, I'll forever be haunted by the darkly poetic image of her shoulder bag sitting there on the platform where she dropped it, suddenly belonging to no one. I wish I had a name to put with this random thing. I probably looked right at the girl as I reached the top of the stairs, but I couldn't tell you what she looked like. For all I know, I'd seen her around the neighborhood. What's hardest, and I imagine the others that were there when it happened can relate, is that there is a story behind this. A person at her end for some reason. And though I was there for the end, I'll never know what the story was, and if there was any stopping it. Its really just the strangest thing...

Unknown said...

http://chicago.craigslist.org/chc/cas/1021584621.html

Hoax? One can only hope.

floss said...

I flagged that Craigslist posting for removal. Hopefully others will too and it disappears before a loved one sees it.

Unknown said...

who was she?

never saw any official information about this tragic event.

The North Coast said...

The Craigslist ad you refer to is unfortunately still up. I flagged it for removal, too.

Hopefully, we'll never know who this young woman is. Numerous suicides occur on the tracks at CTA and METRA, and they are not publicized, for good reason. Suicide is not a "crime", but a deeply personal tragedy, and spreading it allover the media would only make things worse for the survivors.

This happened with a dear high school friend of my sister's, who killed herself with pills in a public park at the age of 24. Her name and address appeared in the newspaper-there was no mistaking who she was. There was no need for this. An obituary stating "suddenly" would have been sufficient to notify people of her death.

Four of my friends killed themselves in the 80s, and the pain to the survivors is indescribable. Why add to it?

Cyber said...

I only heard of this today...I may know the victim from a couple of years ago.

Does anyone know where she lived or her name?

Tionna Tiara said...

I am very curious about this suicide and the craigslist posting if you read this can you please email me at sweett1466@msn.com
thank you.

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