A local teen is dead after being hit by a freight train on the Northwest Side.
The Vanderburgh County Coroner's Office identifies the victim as 15-year-old Zachariah McFarland.
The accident happened at about 7:15 Wednesday morning near the crossing on Mill Road, just west of Kratzville Road.
Sheriff Dave Wedding says the Central High School student had earbuds in, and apparently didn't hear the approaching train even as the locomotive crew blew the horn and hit the emergency brakes before the collision.
McFarland was hit from behind and pinned beneath one of the train cars. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
In a news release, Sheriff Wedding calls it a “tragic event” that was “entirely preventable.” He urges parents to talk to children about the dangers of trespassing on railroad tracks and to avoid the “distractions of portable electronics.”