WEDNESDAY, MARCH 5, 7 A.M. — A student at Palo Alto High School was killed by a Caltrain yesterday at the Churchill Avenue crossing, Principal Brent Kline said in a mass email to parents and others.
“Our hearts go out to the student’s family, friends, and all who knew them,” Kline said. “In times of such heartbreaking loss, it is important that we come together as a community to support one another.”
The strike was reported at 8:45 a.m. Palo Alto police and firefighters arrived and confirmed the person had died before handing the case over to the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office, which provides policing for Caltrain.
Caltrain sent out automated messages saying there is police activity on the tracks for an “unknown cause.”
Caltrain no longer provides information about when someone dies on the train tracks in an effort to stop copycat suicides. As a result, it’s unclear how many people have died on the tracks this year or last year.
The city of Palo Alto has a set of cameras and thermal sensors that alert police when someone goes on the tracks, but the city won’t provide information about how well they work.
The person who died yesterday hasn’t been identified, the Santa Clara County Medical Examiner-Coroner’s Office said yesterday at 4 p.m.
The following is the message from Principal Kline:
Dear Palo Alto Community,
It is with profound sadness that we must inform you of a tragic loss within our school family. We have received confirmation that this morning’s incident at the Churchill and Alma Street Caltrain crossing resulted in the death of a Palo Alto High School student.
Our hearts go out to the student’s family, friends, and all who knew them. In times of such heartbreaking loss, it is important that we come together as a community to support one another.
We have immediately activated our Crisis Response Team. Mental health professionals, counselors and support staff will be available throughout the coming days to provide assistance to students and staff who are processing this news. We are also working with community partners to ensure additional resources are available for those in need.
As this incident involves multiple agencies, we have limited additional information at this time. If you notice your child experiencing difficulty with this news, please don’t hesitate to reach out to our counseling department.
With deepest sympathy,
Brent Kline, Principal
TUESDAY, MARCH 4, 9:51 A.M. — A Caltrain struck and killed a person at 8:45 this morning (March 4) at the Churchill Avenue crossing in Palo Alto, said police Capt. James Reifschneider.
Palo Alto police and firefighters were first on scene and confirmed the person had died before handing the case over to the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office, which provides policing for Caltrain.
Caltrain released automated messages saying there is police activity on the tracks and there is an “unknown cause” for the current delay.
Caltrain no longer releases information about when someone dies on the train tracks.
As a result, it is not clear how many people have died on the tracks this year or last year.
I go to Palo Alto high school and people at school are saying that it was a kid who died.
I work in this area and this is such sad news. I often see students on their bikes with headphones on too close to the tracks.
Yes my husband and I noticed and said the same. It’s scary, how we see the students stand/stop too close with the train track.
It had nothing to do with the student wearing headphones or biking or not paying attention. Students said he/she went under the drop down barrier and sat in the middle of the track intentionally. Sad.
It almost always seems to be, this time of year. So sad. So much pressure on the kids. I’m so sorry.
I’ve heard that too
Mathias, our hearts are with you all!! Be safe, and ask for help, when you need it.
Mathias, our hearts are with you all!! Stay strong, and ask for help if you need it.
I thought they were supposed to be people watching the tracks in that area to prevent high school students from attempting to commit suicide. Sorry for whoever it was and hopefully it was an accident. If it was suicide I hope then my school steps up and provides more intense support
That was well spoken and clarified. Thank you
As with the various expensive high-tech camera systems, the now discontinued-due-to-high-costs “track watch” program was ineffective “security theater.” Without continuous barriers such as in completely closed systems such as airport people movers, it is impossible to stop suicides wherever people can simply step into the path of oncoming trains … and that includes from station platforms as with many of Caltrain suicides and the 2 BART suicides within the last 2 weeks.
Costly grade separations can only stop (thankfully quite rare) true accidents because suicidal people will simply shift to where there is remaining opportunity at completely open nearby stations and other remaining open crossings … or just use one of the many more common and less public means.
Palo Alto’s “track watch” personnel were basically (and understandably!) very bored low-grade “observe & report” security guards required to spend long hours sitting around solo at train crossings. Eventually some were caught using drugs, masturbating, and even committing burglaries … perhaps out of sheer boredom.
Because they literally could not anticipate or physically prevent someone from fatally stepping into the path of an oncoming train from a position of perfectly normal safety at the last moment from one of the 4 different points the sidewalks intersect with the track crossing, their only practical role and added value was to possibly, hopefully serve as a deterrent by their very presence.
do you know the name or which year the student was in. I heard people had recorded the video that makes me sick because why didn’t they help the kid.
To be honest, there wasn’t much others could have done, if the kid really did go onto the tracks after the barriers came down. There is a very narrow time window to rescue the kid before the train comes, and I completely understand why others wouldn’t or couldn’t rescue the kid. They thought about their own safety too.
The first sentence of this article says, “a student was killed”
returning federal workers don’t know how to drive.
What is wrong with you, Jan Horvath, joking about a death?
Jan Horvath, your comment is shameful.
Please get help for whatever is causing you see the death of a child as a reason to make a completely unrelated and hate filled political point. I will pray for the soul of this child and I hope you have someone who would be willing to pray for you.
[Post removed — Obscenity.]
Caltrain’s policy of concealing deaths isn’t working out so well.
I also go to Paly. Like Mathias said, word around school is that a student was killed by the Caltrain. I don’t have any way to confirm or deny, but I’ve also heard that it was deliberate and they laid themselves down on the tracks. Suicide or not, a very sad incident.
It was a suicide. One of my classmates was the victim 🙁
Is the class alright is the family alright I can imagine how devastating it is. I hope they put down the videos of the kid dieing
My daughter is worried because she has been talking to a boy from paly who fits the description. Has not responded to her messages. Is there any way you might be able to ease her mind about who it was?
Suicides are tragic for all, but bad publicity for Caltrain
Keeping the word about deaths secret only adds to the stigma of suicide. Most folks who take their lives are suffering from mental illness. The secrecy only makes them more apprehensive about sitting down with a professional to deal with their problems. Shame on Caltrain for perpetuating this stigma. Do better!
As a former student of PALY during the peak of “The suicide wave”, I understand where you are coming from in terms of wanting to know. But I hope you would understand the reasoning behind the secrecy. It was beyond traumatic watching each death trigger an onslaught of copy-cat suicides in the same fashion. Many of us still, 15+ years later, struggle to hear the train horn in terror that it is trying to warn another student to get out of the way. Please have some empathy for both students AND Caltrain workers who have to share the trauma but never get any sympathy.
Thank you for this gracious comment. I am so sorry for everything you and your fellow high school students have gone through and I especially appreciate your comment about the CalTrain workers. Being involved in this sort of trauma leaves indelible scars on all.
There was no evidence of copycat suicides. There were no cases where one suicide would follow another after just a day or two. That was made up by the people who wanted to bury this whole issue. Hiding the problem won’t make it go away. Secrecy makes it worse. The Caltrain board members should be ashamed.
I won’t claim to know the right answer, and I get what you are saying, but in 2009 when the first of that cluster happened, Gunn shut down for a couple days and they put huge attention on the event, commemorating the child with schoolwide assemblies and so forth. I thought that was the wrong move to put it in the limelight.
Dear “former Paly studen”, do you have any evidence that there have been copycat suisides? Was there another suicide 24 or 48 hours before this one? It’s easy to say there are copycat suicides because that lets Caltrain and PAUSD off the hook. People will say “We can’t stop copycats, it’s out of our hands, it’s the media’s fault.” But that allows Caltrain and PAUSD to avoid the subject. Hence the problem doesn’t get solved. So “former Paly student”, you sound bright, so show me one case that proves your claim.
As a Paly student, the PAUSD administration needs to do a better job. Caltrain tries to keep it quiet to prevent suicide clusters (not to mention that most of these students are minors). The Palo Alto suicide clusters are a recorded phenomenon and have even been investigated by the CDC. Also it just doesn’t seem right to me to publicize the deaths of children.
CDC case study of cluster suicides of Palo Alto kids showed it was NOT stress nor was it NOT pressure from academics. CDC it was dangerous to say it was.
CDC said it was due to mental illness and the majority had depression or diagnosed depression.
PAUSD needs to be open and say it was suicide (acknowledge the problem) as well as mental illness of depression.
Depression is often hidden and treated as if shameful. We as a society need to acknowledge when someone has a mental illness.
All this cloak and dagger of not saying it was or was not suicide by PAUSD and hiding it is terrible. So is the not dealing with depression as a mental illness.
A 21 year old young man died same way in Meno park on Feb 8th. RIP
Stress, pressure from academics and so
many other stressors can play into mental health, so not mutually exclusive. The important thing is that we listen, support and destigmatize seeking help when anyone is in a crisis, especially our young people. Text or call 988, Or text 742741, or text, chat, or toll-free phone in English (833) 317-HOPE (4673) or in Spanish (833) 642-7696. if you know someone is struggling, don’t judge , tell
them they are not alone, and ask them how you can help.
Unfortunately I witnessed this event. It was very intentional by the victim. I’m so sorry people feel this is their only choice left. I hope all those affected seek help. I definitely needed the support of a professional after witnessing this tragic death.
You just sat there and watched? Did you do something about it?
I graduated from Pali in 89’. Seems like just yesterday I would leave my house, listen to my music with my boombox in my gym bag, and cross those train tracks daily. High School was fun back then. The amount of pressure these kids have nowadays, with academics and sports, and every other activity under the sun you can think of, is overwhelming. I’ve wondered when do these precious souls have time to sleep? We didn’t have crossing guards back then……. wasn’t a thought back then. I’m saddened for this student. I can relate to what he was going through……. Whatever it was. Prayers to his parents who lost their child today. Unfortunately, these incidents will continue to occur. Our children our crying for help internally……, I’d say more like screaming. Let’s all get more involved with our fellow classmates. Another town hall about suicide is long overdue. Remember……. there is always help. God bless and love.
as a paly student I’m not feeling to good there is so much pressure for me to be better than someone else when I am really not able to. It’s really depressing that I will graduate a moderate to low student even tho I spend all my time working.
I feel so sad this is how the system is here. The expectations in this town are unrealistic, and my heart goes out to all students who are struggling with stress and depression and crushing workloads. It should NOT be this way–high school is a time to savor, not be sleep-deprived and anxious to the point of taking one’s life. Thinking of you and all students having a rough time.
Dear Anonymous PALY student, despite how this environment makes you feel like a “moderate to low student,” please know that you are way more than this artificially constructed yard stick of your self worth. I tell my kids all the time that they are great just the way they are. And so are you. As you said, you work hard and undoubtedly try your best. With that work ethic, you will find your way and your place in this world. Spread your wings and leave Palo Alto when you graduate. The world is much bigger than here. You are loved.
You will hopefully find that once you are done with PAUSD life will be more enjoyable and that you are better off than the optics appear currently. From what my kids have said and what I have heard from others, I believe growing up in PA area is akin to seeing yourself in a “funhouse” mirror; totally distorted from reality. But if you’ve only been able to see yourself this way, it’s hard to imagine that it’s not the only “reality” out there. Hang in there and no shame in seeking help or an expert perspective to see that things can be different and better.
Our thoughts and Prayers are with the Family of this student. As a parent of a Paly Student this is close to home. There are many resources available for student that are dealing with tough issues. I sincerely pray that you the students who attend Paly try and be aware of a fellow student who shows the signs of mental or emotional struggles. Sometimes it’s difficult and even impossible to see the signs so you can’t blame yourself. Be careful not to participate in belittling someone based on their outer appearance because we never know what a person is going through on the inside. Try your best to treat other ppl the way you would wanted to be treated ❤️. Take Care & God Bless You
We used to have parents sitting in lawn chairs at crossings to prevent tragedies like this. Then the City shoes them away and promised to handle it with high-tech cameras and other devices. That failed yesterday! As a taxpayer and a citizen, I want an explanation from the city and I want cops at these crossings untill we get a suitable solution.
As a student, I have heard that people have a lot of sucuidal thoughts, but choose not to share them becuase they don’t have a good connection with others, or believe that people will tease/not belive them. I think this will continue to happen especially of people don’t have solid relationships and it takes a crazy amount of courage.
I agree with this. My friend and I were talking about it earlier in Social Studies ( same friend who wrote that), and we agreed to look out for others who could be depressed.
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I was one of the people who saw this suicide yesterday. He sat down on the tracks as the train approached. This is terribly upsetting and I’ll never forget it. It happened so fast nobody could jump in and pull him off the tracks. We need to stop all the trains until we can prevent this from happening again.
As a student, I know that this is a huge problem for multiple reasons.
For one, many people have suicidal thoughts, and have definitely considered taking their lives, but don’t want to tell anyone, because they don’t have a good relationship with anyone.
Furthermore, they feel they will be teased/not believed and that is hard. It also takes crazy courage, and suicide feels like the answer to end the pain, without a catch. They also think it will make a point to others, especially those they hate.
If Caltrain is allowed to keep death statistics secret, we’ll never know how widespread of a problem this is. When one death occurs, we might be tempted to think it’s an unusual event. But when you hear that 18 happened in a year along a 40~ mile stretch of tracks, you have to wonder why Caltrain isn’t moving more quickly to deal with this problem. Hiding the data isn’t going to solve anything; it will just make it harder for people to fix this problem. If Caltrain continues with this policy, I think we need to start electing the Caltrain board in order to put people on there who are more accountable.
Unfortunately, short of physically sealing off the entire system with impenetrable barriers (such as with airport people-movers and the newest and most modern subway style systems with even their station platforms sealed off from the tracks with expensive mechanized “platform screen doors”), it is — and *always* has been — literally, physically impossible for rail systems around the world to stop suicidal people from quickly stepping from a perfectly normal and safe position into the fatal path of an oncoming train at the last moment.
The knee-jerk desire to find an easy culprit “that just needs to do something!” (but what, exactly?) in rail system operators is understandable, because suicide is such a frustratingly difficult and intractable-seeming public mental health issue that has no easy solutions or blame we can conveniently place on others.
My heart is with this student’s familiy, the observers, Cal Train workers, the students who feel alone, and those who are struggling. To our precious youth, please keep reaching out to a caring adults until someone listens. Each and everyone of you is so important.
My sincere condolences for the loss of this student and for our Paly students during this painful time.
Im a paly student and i am deeply saddned by the situation (excuse me for my bad grammar I’m tired) It sickens me to think that this student whoever he was or how old he was decided to commit suicide. PAUSD has to start acknowledging mental health to a level where kids will be safe. It is not alright for the PA to say that no kid will go onto the track but then let a literal child sit on the tracks. WE NEED TO FIX THIS! IF anybody has any more information about what happened I would like to know since I am sure this can be avoided in the future> for example what year they were in or if they were acting strangely before or “social ranking” I want to be able to fight for the students who are struggling with mental health
Each year the trains kill many children. We have to stop it. Trains should slow down at a few intersections to save kids’ lives.
Former Palo Alto high school teacher here. Part of why we left the Bay Area to raise our family was the impossible situation I saw my students in — they weren’t allowed to be kids. Constant depression and misery for these beautiful souls. As someone already said, the Bay Area is a funhouse mirror (a dangerous one) and to any high schooler reading this: know that your life will only get better… I promise. Your grades, where you go to college — none of this is connected to your value. Your worth exists no matter what, and nothing will change that. Take good care and frankly, if you can, get the heck out of the Bay Area as soon as possible. You’re not alone.
We moved from Southern California a few years ago and the environment in PAUSD is not normal. Even with a unweighted GPA of 4 my son feels he is not good enough, his extra curriculars are not enough. It has taken a lot of effort to gain his confidence back. We cannot wait for him to graduate next year and move out. There is a much bigger world out there. Every child will find success in life in their own unique way.