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Sounder train strikes, kills pedestrian on tracks east of Tacoma

A man was struck and killed Wednesday by a Sound Transit passenger train bound for Lakewood. Law enforcement officials said the man started to get off the tracks east of Tacoma but wasn’t able to avoid the train.

The incident was reported at about 8:47 a.m. near the 4400 block of Pioneer Way East in the Waller area. Pierce County Sheriff’s Department deputies and fire department personnel responded, and the man was declared dead at the scene. He has not been identified.

A Sounder train conductor saw the man standing on the tracks and honked at him, Sheriff’s Department spokesperson Sgt. Darren Moss said. Deputies don’t believe the incident was a suicide.

“He saw the train and was trying to get out of the way,” Moss said. “The one thing people need to realize is just because you are off the rail doesn’t mean the train won’t hit you. The trains are wider than the rails.”

No train crossings were blocked as a result, and road traffic wasn’t affected, Moss said.

A man was struck and killed Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2023, by a Sound Transit train near Waller, according to the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department. The train was southbound from Seattle to Lakewood.
A man was struck and killed Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2023, by a Sound Transit train near Waller, according to the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department. The train was southbound from Seattle to Lakewood.

The train got moving again at about 10 a.m., Sound Transit spokesperson David Jackson said. He said the train didn’t go to its destination and instead stopped at the Tacoma Dome. That’s where most passengers were headed, he said, but crews coordinated with Pierce Transit to get others to South Tacoma. He said no one was going to Lakewood.

The Sounder was expected to resume its normal schedule Wednesday going north from the Tacoma Dome.

At least two other people have been struck and killed by trains in Pierce County this year. Last week, a 42-year-old man was struck near Puyallup, and on Jan. 9, a person died after being hit by a train in Puyallup.