8 people have been killed by trains in SLO County in past decade. Here’s what happened
Monday’s accident that killed a 13-year-old girl walking Paso Robles is a reminder of the danger posed by trains that pass through cities and towns in San Luis Obispo County.
While fatalities are rare, they do happen somewhat regularly, a couple every few years.
Over the past 10 years, there have been at least eight confirmed train vs. pedestrian deaths in San Luis Obispo County, according to previous Tribune reports.
Those collisions have historically been mostly in San Luis Obispo — especially near Cal Poly — though some have occurred in Pismo Beach and even in Paso Robles.
According to Operation Lifesaver, a national nonprofit that promotes rail safety, there have been 12 deaths on SLO County tracks in the past decade, but that data includes deaths that occurred in the vicinity of the tracks and were not directly attributed to a person being struck by a train.
According to the nonprofit, California leads the country in the most “trespasser deaths” per year, with 131 in 2020.
The U.S. Department of Transportation classifies anyone on the train tracks outside of a crossing as a trespasser because is illegal to access private railroad property anywhere other than a designated pedestrian or roadway crossing.
Here’s what we know about the eight deaths since 2012:
Teen killed walking on train tracks in Paso Robles
Thirteen-year-old Genesis “Geny” Guerrero was hit by a train at about 4:30 p.m. Monday in Paso Robles.
According to police, she and three other individuals were on the track at the time of the incident, which occurred near the intersection of Park and 36th streets on the west side of Paso Robles. Police said the train’s conductor attempted to alert the people of his approach, but the girl did not move off the tracks.
“This is just a tragic accident for all parties involved,” Paso Robles Police Cmdr. Caleb Davis told The Tribune at the scene. “Our condolences go out to the family.”
A GoFundMe was started Tuesday morning to support Guerrero’s family.
Pedestrian struck by Amtrak train in SLO
A person was struck struck and killed by an Amtrak train on Aug. 24, 2021, in San Luis Obispo.
According to an Amtrak spokesperson, the person was on the tracks near Orcutt Road and Tank Farm Road in San Luis Obispo around 9 p.m. when “they came into contact with Amtrak train 777.”
The person was not identified following the incident. The spokesperson at the time said there was no indication of foul play.
Coast Starlight train hits, kills man in Paso Robles
A man was killed by an Amtrak passenger train in Paso Robles on Feb. 7, 2019.
According to police at the time, a Coast Starlight train hit the man around 5:30 p.m. near Spring Street.
Witnesses at the scene said the man was walking on the tracks, and the conductor appeared to slow the train before it struck him.
The man’s identity was not released at the time.
Man lying on tracks hit by train in SLO
San Luis Obispo police found the body of a man at a train underpass near the intersection of Mill and Pepper streets just before 10:30 a.m. on Aug. 29, 2018.
The train engineer told police he saw the man lying on the tracks, but could not stop the train before it hit him.
The man, who was later identified as Christopher Hackmann, 37, of San Luis Obispo, was declared dead at the scene.
Cal Poly student hit near campus
A 22-year-old Cal Poly student was killed at a rail crossing in San Luis Obispo on Feb. 16, 2016.
Thomas Tilton Stone of Vallejo was a business administration senior. Shortly before 5 p.m., he was crossing the tracks at Foothill and California boulevards near campus when he was struck by an Amtrak train.
Police said Stone was seen wearing earbuds and looking down at his phone as he walked in front of the train.
Stone was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Woman lying between tracks killed in SLO
A 54-year-old woman was killed by a train in San Luis Obispo on Jan. 4, 2016.
According to police, Saralee Lua, an unhoused woman, was hit by an Amtrak train at about 8:46 p.m. near Tank Farm Road.
Police at the time said Lua was lying between two sets of tracks, but not on the tracks, when she was struck by the northbound train.
She was alive when authorities arrived but later died from her injuries.
Cal Poly student killed by train in rural SLO
On Jan. 9, 2016, a 19-year-old Cal Poly student died when he was hit by a train in San Luis Obispo.
According to police, Aaron Matthew Wolf was struck by the train at about 8 p.m. on the railroad tracks east of Sweet Bay Lane in rural SLO.
Police later ruled Wolf’s cause of death was suicide.
Woman hit by train in Pismo Beach
A Five Cities woman was struck and killed by a train while walking on tracks in Pismo Beach on May 22, 2013.
Veronica Lynne Clancy, 59, was an unhoused woman who had lived on the Central Coast for at least three decades, her son told The Tribune at the time.
Witnesses said they saw Clancy walking on the tracks and then trying to get out of the way of the train before she was struck.
This story was originally published February 9, 2022 at 2:08 PM.
%20Cropped.jpg)