ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. — Two people are dead after trying to cross separate train tracks in St. Louis County on the same day.
Saturday morning, Stephen O'Connor Jr, 34, was crossing a section of railroad at Greenwood and Sutton boulevards in Maplewood to get to his car when he was hit by one of two passing trains. His family tells the I-Team he was an accomplished marine, serving two tours in Iraq.
The family said his death was senseless and potentially preventable if there was a fence or other barrier along the railway.
The I-Team found at least two other people have been killed at that crossing since 1977.
In another part of the county, also on Saturday, a still-unidentified 30-year-old man was hit at a Kirkwood railroad crossing near the area of the Union Pacific Railroad train tracks and South Harrison Avenue.
5 On Your Side wanted to know if any additional safety measures were going to be installed at these railroad crossings. The Federal Railroad Administration said that's up to the Missouri Department of Transportation.
5 On Your Side has reached out to MODOT and is still awaiting comment.
The I-Team looked into federal railroad data and found that while people have died walking alongside railroad tracks recently, the last time someone was killed in St. Louis county while crossing the tracks was nine years ago.
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