Homeless Community Braces as Train Tragedy Unfolds

Police say the in Fredericksburg is most likely homeless. The identity of the victim, as of last night, had not been released to the public, citing difficulty in locating next-of-kin. Police describe the victim as a white male.

According to Fredericksburg Police Public Information Officer Natatia Bledsoe, police have had non-criminal contact with the victim in the past.

Meanwhile, members of the city's homeless community are bracing for bad news as another one of their ranks has likely passed on. Last night, as police conducted their investigation, a small group of three homeless residents gathered at the scene. They are worried that the victim could me a man who goes by the name "Big Jim" who bunks in the area and frequently hangs out on the rail siding near where the incident occured. They report that, once learning of the fatal incident, they were unable to locate "Big Jim" in any of his familiar haunts.

"He has a heart of gold," said homeless Fredericksburg resident Shannon Tazelaar, distraught.

The incident occured around 7:05 p.m. yesterday evening when a southbound 20 car CSX maintenance and equipment train struck the victim as he was walking along the train tracks in the vicinity of Charles Street, near the Fredericksburg train station.

The engineer on the train tells police that he saw a man walking on the southeastern most line of rails and sounded their horn multiple times as the brakes were applied. The victim, according to the engineer, never turned around nor made an attempt to get out of the way. The train was unable to stop in time, striking the victim who was pronounced dead on the scene.

According to police, the tracks are surprisingly well travelled by pedestrians. Bledsoe said that tracks in the area are known to be used to access homeless camps located off the rail siding.