SANTA ROSA, CA. (THECOUNT) — Thomas Nichols, of Santa Rosa, has been identified as the victim struck by a SMART train in Rohnert Park, California on Monday.
“Tom” Nichols, 61, was struck and killed Monday by a passing SMART train in what police believe was a suicide.
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Law enforcement evaluated footage from the collision and determined Nichols intentionally crossed paths with the speeding train, the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office said.
He was struck around 4:10 p.m. along Redwood Drive north of Rohnert Park’s Golf Course Drive crossing, which has seen three previous deaths since the Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit began services almost two years ago, reports PressDemocrat.
The crash marks the third death in less than a week, and the fifth death in a month.
Friends and family members took to Facebook to remember Nichols:
Nichols was originally from Haddonfield, New Jersey, according to social media.
Nichols’ death was the ninth on the tracks since SMART began the commuter rail service in August 2017. Three of the deaths have been ruled accidents and six are suspected suicides.
Geo quick facts: Rohnert Park is a city in Sonoma County, California, United States, located approximately 50 miles north of San Francisco. The population at the 2010 United States Census was 40,971. It is an early planned city and is the sister city of Hashimoto in Japan – Wikipedia.