Train strikes, kills Kent man, 64, in wheelchair on tracks
Published 12:35 pm Thursday, February 5, 2026
A train struck and killed a 67-year-old Kent man sitting in a wheelchair on the railroad tracks just before noon Wednesday, Feb. 4 at East James Street.
The man is the second pedestrian in three days killed on the tracks in Kent.
Kent Police officers, Puget Sound Fire and King County Medics responded at about 11:57 a.m. Feb. 4 after reports of a train striking a pedestrian on the northbound BNSF Railway tracks, according to a Feb. 5 Kent Police news release.
Upon arrival, first responders located the unconscious and nonresponsive 67-year-old Kent man, and immediately began lifesaving efforts, but the man died at the scene, according to police. Witnesses said that the man was on the tracks while sitting in a wheelchair as the train approached.
The conductor advised that the train was traveling at a speed of 35 to 36 mph, according to police. The conductor said that they utilized their train horn to divert the man off the tracks and immediately attempted to stop.
Brian Thomas Hawkins died of multiple blunt force injuries in the accident, according to the Feb. 5 report by the King County Medical Examiner’s Office.
Police advised in the news release that trains moving on tracks can appear deceptively further away and as travelling much slower than their actual speed.
The incident closed track crossings in Kent for about two hours at James, Smith, Meeker, Gowe, Titus and Willis streets, according to city Public Works traffic updates.
On Monday, Feb. 2, a 64-year-old Kent woman died after getting hit by a train while reportedly standing on the tracks at about 5:51 p.m. in the 1000 block of First Avenue North, according to police.
Officers viewed a video during the initial investigation that showed the woman standing on the tracks waving at the train as it approached, according to police. The conductors advised that they utilized their horn in an attempt to divert the woman off the tracks and immediately attempted to stop. The conductors located the woman a short distance away from where she had been standing on the tracks.
Pamela Christine Slott died of multiple blunt force injuries, according to the Feb. 3 report by the Medical Examiner’s Office, which ruled the manner of death as an accident.
History of deaths by train
With the two deaths so far this year, 27 pedestrians have been killed by trains in Kent over the last nine years, according to the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission website.
Three were killed in 2025, two in 2024, one in 2023, four in 2022, seven in 2021, three in 2020, four in 2019 and one in 2018.
