Suzanne_Marques's Blog

Right after I wrapped up my live shot Sunday night, my story took a wild turn.

Police were saying it appeared a man ignored train crossing signals and ran straight into an oncoming Metrolink - with his daughter and niece in the car.   He and his 10 year old niece were killed, and his daughter was in critical condition.  One neighbor said the crossing arm has been malfunctioning for years.

After all of this was reported, we were packing up to leave when a woman approached me.

She and her family stopped to watch the train pass with their daughters and watched the accident happen.  She said the car never slowed, and that she never saw the arm go down in the crossing.  She said, wouldn't the arm have some damage if the car had gone through the crossing?  There was also a center divider at the crossing.

Another small group of people started to come out of the shadows, but kept their distance.  My gut told me they were relatives of the people in the crash. 

I started speaking to the sister of the driver.  She told me her brother and neices were just leaving church, getting together on Father's Day.  I could see in her eyes that the shock was still there, that it hadn't truly sunk in yet.  Her eyes were filled with a swirl of emotions - anger, disbelief, sadness, denial. 

It brought me back to the first images we saw when we arrived at the scene.  Family members with their faces twisted with grief, their hands reaching to their faces, making fists, raising them to the sky.  As if trying to make sense or control what one simply has no control over.  What can you do when you learn a person most precious to you is dead?  These are images I will never forget. 

If the crossing has a malfunction, I hope it is fixed before anyone else gets hurt.  I wish it could all be fixed.