Prayers to the young man and his family.

Pay attention people! Don't think you can beat a train or be stupid to walk around down gates!!

He should have thought of his little girl and baby mama before playing chicken with a train.

you gotta be kidding me..you really think he did this on purpose? Why dont you wait for the investigation to be completed. I know for a fact he was not playing chicken with a train. You people have no compassion for the people that loved and cared about him.

I think that's their point; don't be an idiot. Even my 6-year-old knows STOP. LOOK. LISTEN.

My heart goes out to this young mans family and friends. It is a tragedy when someone so young dies.

Ok Suzette er I mean Becky.

My prayers for the family..... Im very sorry for the family's lost>>

How tragic! So sad to read stories like this. My thoughts and prayers are with him and his family and friends at this difficult time. So sad.

Prayers and thoughts to the family. And please, everyone must think before posting certain comments such as above. I couldn't imagine how one of his family members might feel if they read something so insensitive and heartless immediately after losing someone they love.

Two comments were deleted from this stream because they violated Patch's terms of use regarding language. I know this is a difficult and sad story, but let's keep the swearing out, folks.

People, if you want to kill yourselves can you PLEASE do it on your own time? I missed my aunt's wake last night because a 30 year old man was incredibly stupid and decides to cross tracks he had no business being on! He effected hundreds of people's lives.

What happened? What were the contributing factors? Was there a stopped second train in the station or a commuter train exiting the station? This is a "quiet zone", Did the engineer blow the whistle and when? Where the warning gates, lights and chimes working and timed properly? Do Westmont Police enforce the no crossing regulations or is it common practice to cross when gates, lights and chimes are sounding in Westmont? It is sad that it happened and my prayers go out to his family.

My guess is going to be he walked around the back of the train to cross over, iPhone earbuds firmly in place, and got hit by the train behind the train he just got off of. Warning lights and gates down can only get you so far- paying attention is important too.

wow, I am stunned by the comments of some people. He was my friends brother, and had a whole life ahead of himself. You people should be entirely ashamed of yourselves! Any way you look at it, it's a loss of life for him, his family, and those who knew and loved him. How would you like it if this happened to a 30 something individual in your family, and ignorant selfish people are making comments about missing dinner. Karma is a powerful thing, congratulations for setting yourselves up.

Has anyone thought that maybe, just maybe he killed himself. People r so depressed that they dont care whos lives they mess up as long as thet end theirs and walkng in front of a train is a sure way to do that.

Please keep the engineer of the train in your prayers. This is something very hard for engineers to cope with and they are often forgotten when accidents like this happen. Even though they know it was not their fault that someone walked in front of the train they were operating, they can still have terrible guilt and a terrible memory of what happened. We all need to be careful around train tracks. Trains can not swerve or stop quickly. A friend of mine was killed by a train. He wasn't paying attention for a brief moment and he lost his life. Look, Listen and Live!!

Some of you folks are actually worried about your commute and dinner instead of a life, regardless of what happened... My sincere regards to the family, and my pity to the jack@&&€& who have lost their humanity.

The man who died was a close friend of mine. I grew up with him and his brothers he was one of the nicest human beings alive! Every one who knew him is devastated by his loss. I'm not sure what happened but I know that you should feel horrible talking so horribly about a father a friend a son a grandson a brother. I'm sorry your night was messed up but our lives are forever changed and his daughters life will be incomplete with this loss. I pray for your selfish souls!

What a total lack of civility, common decency!

Wow, it still amazes me that some people ( who choose to have chaotic schedules ) are in such a rush that they have lost all compassion for others. Slow down, bitter Chicago folks. Life is too short to be angry over someone's tragedy. It was inconvenient; however, there are other modes of transportation. Take a cab if you are missing dinner or a wake!! I am embarrassed for your above posts. Peace be with you. Prayers for the victims family... Unconditionally.

I cannot believe some of the comments on here. How sad - they are just as upsetting as what happened. Whether this man did this by accident or on purpose, a man died. He left behind people that love him and people are concerned about how it affected their traffic? It made them late? You missed a wake? Do it on your own time? It is really heartbreaking & sad to see the lack of compassion others have for strangers. What if this was your family member? Your brother, friend, son husband? Then it would be totally different correct? I have no idea who this person was or what happened, but I will say I am truly sorry for the loss to his family and friends. And I promise you - I am raising my kids to be kind, compassionate & caring of others!

It's sad he died, but pay attention at train depots and crossings. Look, listen and don't be in such a hurry. Also take those damn ear buds out of your ears and listen to your surroundings.

Written by a friend
http://downersgrove.patch.com/articles/may-4-2006

It is tragic that a human being lost his life. I feel compassion and sympathy for the people and friends that were in his life that will miss him forever. That being said, I also have compassion for my family who missed me last night because I was stuck on a train. I have compassion for the person that didn't get a chance to pay last respects because they missed saying goodbye to a loved one of their own. At this time, we can only speculate what happened and why. Being stuck for hours myself, I need to point out that you just can't walk off a train a catch a cab. I find it ironic that some talk about "taking your time" and "chaotic schedules", yet it only takes a few seconds of inattention for a tragedy. Unless the individuals were specifically directed across the street by a public official or signage, their is something known as personal responsibility. Even in a possible scenario of warning devices not working, it's still common sense to look both ways. I do that before walking across a street, regardless of signage. I teach that to kids at a very early age. This outcome was unfortunate for everyone.

Wow Carrie your aunt must be proud at how self centered you are Grow up people a Man Died you do not know he did this on purpose and quite frankly if your that mad because he interrupted your evening then you truly do need to realize their are some seeds in this world called compassion and you all need to grow some!

Just a point of clarification, folks. Investigators have so far not said whether the incident was accidental or intentional. I encourage everyone on this comment stream to remain civil and not make any assumptions about this tragic event and the victim.

Actually, there in a real problem with second train accidents near commuter stations along the BNSF tracks. Of Metra's 11 routes, 10 of them have layback rules that require trains to layback and not enter a station if there is a stopped or exiting commuter train. It is just too dangerous. The BNSF line is the only line that allows trains to pass through stations, and many at high speeds, even if there is a commuter train in/or exiting the station. I have no idea how this accident occurred. But I do know that the BNSF operating rules are much different than those on the other 10 Metra lines and there have many second train pedestrian/commuter accidents near commuter stations because of it.

I'm with the people who are pissed off about the literally thousands of folks who had their evenings disrupted, missed appointments, worried about their kids being left alone, etc. Either this was a suicide or someone being totally oblivious to their surroundings when crossing the tracks.

It's simple pay attention to the flashing lights, bells and downed gates. Once that's all done , cross. What's so hard about that. Plus it's common sense. What's on the other side of the other train??

Thoughts and condolences to the victim's family.

Hey I just wanted everyone to know that yes he had family and yes they read this And how about you guys get all the facts straight before saying stuff he had a loving baby girl and a girl friend how do you think they feel so stop posting rude comments no one cares if you missed an appointment one of my family members died yesterday and with you guys posting this stuff it is really not necessary to be talking about

I'm not saying he killed himself but it's not unreasonable to think that couple years ago a man jump in front of a train in Downers Grove and exploded my ex was the first car online to watch the whole thing sometimes no 1 to know you're depressed but if it was truly an accident that's what it was my prayers go out to the familyand friends and people complaining about the missed their appointments grow up a man's life was taken in your worried about an appointment unless you were about to die appointment can be rescheduled

Some of the comments about this poor guy's death and how it 'inconvenienced' people last night really depress me about human beings. Those of you who should be ashamed of yourselves know who you are.

I understand that many of you are upset for this horrible event disturbing your evening but you can't change what happened and God I wish we could. All I am saying is have a little compassion his friends and family are reading this so they can be updated on what happened. I understand that what ever you missed last night was important to you but we lost a person last night and what happened to him was tragic. So please respect our loss and keep the family in mind while you are posting cause he can't read these we are.

I was on the train for 2 hours. Yes I have compassion for the family and feel terrible that they lost someone. But I also feel bad for Carrie, who missed her Aunt's wake. Whether it was an accident or suicide..it happened and effected everyone from the family to the commuters. We can't ignore the feelings of others and focus just on the family of the victim. I know someone who missed a very important meeting regarding her wedding and now lost the day she wanted to book to another couple. As one could imagine, she is very upset as well. Just because a death wasn't involved in her story, doesn't make her problem any less or more significant. Its just their take, their experience and their view point of the same event.

I want to say a heartfelt sorry for the victims family.. I am sorry for your loss, I am sorry for the callous and utterly disgusting nature of some people that are posting. They are not the majority. Most people have you in their prayers. My children and I were at the crossing when the accident happened. My children and I will forever remember the life that was took whether it was by accident or by any other means. It is a life and no matter the case or the cause, it was unnecessary. I had to lie to my kids about what they saw because they are young and cannot comprehend something like that. But when they are older and think back I will tell them the story of a man that had people that loved him that something tragic happened to. My thoughts and prayers are with you.

People are very rude with their comments on here. A friend dies, it's still under investigation, yet everyone is jumping to conclusions about how this happened. You're night was slightly altered, someones life is gone forever. Show some compassion to the people who lost a father/son/brother/friend.

It's a sad and tragic death. It wasn't the trains fault. It's all about carelessness and not paying attention. Hey there's a tornado outside now, I'm going out to play now!

He was my brother in law. It was a tradgic accident. I say pitty on those who speak as if they have never made a mistake that they can never take back. I can tell you his only intention that night was to go home to his Baby girl. Accidents happen, mistakes were made. The investigation is still pending though.

The identity of the victim has been released: http://patch.com/A-28CK

Not released yet are the circumstances that led to his being struck.

What a bunch of selfish, inhumane individuals out here in the Western Burbs! I also was held up for several hours by this incident. I had had a terrible day, and this made it even worse. However, my nuisances by far were exceeded by the loss of this young man's life! Whether it was an accident or not, no one has the right to call this man 'stupid' or blame him for their inconvenience in getting home. If your cat ran out in the road and was killed by a car, would you call that cat stupid? Would you not mourn for it? Or would you just say the stupid cat deserved it, and I had to take the time to shovel it out of the road, and that caused me not to be able to make a pizza dinner with friends? Whoever had the wake for her Aunt, I feel for you, that you missed that, but we were stuck on that train for hours, you said you were only a half hour late, COULDNT YOU HAVE CALLED A RELATIVE THERE OR THE FUNERAL HOME AND HAVE THEM WAIT A HALF HOUR? I am sure they would have complied. People need to stop feeling sorry for themselves, and to realize that yes, crap happens, but the day someone dies and you are fuming because you are late for something trivial or otherwise, your problems are nuisances. This man will never breathe again, his daughter will never see him again. You can eat your pizza later. Get a grip, put things in perspective, and have a little respect for human life, whether it ended by accident or otherwise. It was not done just to ruin your day. It is not about you at all.

I'm sorry for the friends and family involved for your loss. I'm also sorry you ever thought to read the comments posted after this story. I hope you find peace, where you will never find answers. God bless.

First let me say my thoughts and prayers are with his little girl, his family and anyone who knew him. Second, for how many accidents that have been happening with people getting hit by trains or even cars getting hit by trains why not put camera's at all the crossings so it would help with the investigation and also allow the family to know what really happened.

My condolences to the family of someone that I have known for years. He will be missed. My heart goes out to all of you!

Carrie, you just need to move on, it is not this man's fault that you missed the wake, which I admit is a terrible thing, BUT THERE WAS NOTHING ANYONE COULD HAVE DONE. It was not an intentional jab at you and your day and your aunts wake. It just happened, either move on, or let these eat you up inside. Like someone said, what it if was your child who was killed, would you feel sorry for people she inconvenienced? The trains are NEVER reliable, as a commuter for 7+ years, I know this and plan accordingly to take the day off or leave at noon if I have an important occasion to attend back in the burbs. Stop blaming this poor man. And yes, in the case of an emergency, and with no train running for two hours, I have twice taken a taxi-cab ride from Union Station to Naperville, half hour tops.

Family members and friends of Eric can email me at joe.odonnell@patch.com any time if they are interested in sharing their fond thoughts or memories of him.

Can someone please send me a link to the story: UPDATE: Carrie misses aunt's wake due to pedestrian train death. Thanks.

I know crap happens...and like I said, the loss of a life is a very sad thing. But to say who cares about the other people and focusing just on the family of the life lost is just as selfish and rude as the people bashing the victim for his actions (whether intentional or not). Everyone has a different experience. I personally can tell you a hand full of people who were effected negatively. Not a loss of a life, but still negatively effected their lives. A girl in the train car I was on was going to miss her midterm and wasn't sure if she would be able to make it up. Yes, to some this may seem very minuscule and trivial when comparing to a loss of a life, but the girl didn't know the victim. All she knew was she was missing her midterm in which she knew she couldn't retake. The point I'm trying to make is that while it's very difficult for the family of the victim, far more difficult than missing a dinner, a meeting, scheduled wedding engagements, or a midterm, even the smaller inconveniences still effected the passengers on the train. Most didn't know the victim...all they knew was they were missing something that had previously planned. You have the right to grieve, but to write off others just because you have to now deal with the loss is just as selfish and rude as some people have been on here.

With that being said, the victim, his family and friends and all of those effected will remain in my thoughts and prayers.

A comment was deleted because it violated our terms of use.

We heard the emergency equipment (fire/helicopter) and sat at home last night hoping no one was hurt - sad to hear of loss of a life. My prayers of strength to the family and friends of the gentleman who was killed - I cannot imagine the pain.

This young man was my cousin. It makes me sick that ANYONE would think of the woes of themselves before the woes of the family. Sure, you may have been late to an event or missed dinner, but this mans daughter will miss her father everyday. You heartless people, jumping to suicide conclusions disgust me. You have no clue or any right for that matter. As I'm sure every one of your mother have said in the past, "if you have nothing nice to say, don't say anything at all". Seriously, keep the ignorant comments to yourself, you're not solving anything except for making yourself look stupid. I pray for all of your souls...you obviously need it.

My condolences to the victim's family and friends, as well as anyone who witnessed the incident in real-time.

It's horrifying and, as a daily BNSF rider myself, I'm shocked by some of these comments; they're downright cruel.

And you want know what's even more sad?? That grow adults have nothing better to than sit on a social media site and talk smack about a man you don't even know. You don't know his life, you don't know his family, you don't even know who reads these comments. It's people like you that make me lose faith in all humanity. You should seriously be ashamed of yourself. And then you sit there and expect people to feel bad for you because you missed an event?? GROW UP. I know kindergarten children who are more mature than you're currently being. Grown adults acting like fools. Good for you. You sure did show us by coming here and talking smack. You should feel proud of yourself.

Stupidity, Non-compassioniate,Jealousy, Ignorance, could care less attitude has taken over a huge majority of this country.
The heartless comments on this site prove that !!
How about the millions of men and women that have died defending America in all branches of service over the last 150 years inconveniencing their family and friends with wakes,funerals and burials............
.Have some compassion for your fellow man. Disgusted

RICK
Very well and simply expressed !!
The root of evil .. "Is the evil one" !!!

No one on here is immune to the tragedy that transpired yesterday. If you think you and yours are, you're sadly mistaken... Don't apologize or send condolences then use the word, "but"... It negates your sincerity... If you can't say anything nice to the victim's family, don't say anything at all. We all should have learned this as children. I'm embarrassed to be from the western suburbs after hearing the self-centeredness of many responders. When you exist, thrive, and utilize within a community and its services, things happen; deal with it and be decent. As a fellow human being, I apologize for those who believe they are above this kind tragedy, and once again, my sincere condolences to the family and friends of this man.

This isn't a tragedy. This is someone who choose to abandon his and his family's lives. It's sad, but not a tragedy. Those of you that are posting and do not commute do not understand. We rely on metra to get home to see our son's first home run, our daughter's dance recital, our parent teacher conference, our family's wake, just time spent with my family. This person decided to end his life, what gives him the right to affect my family'? And thousands of others.

Once again, I encourage commenters to avoid assuming what led to the collision, out of respect for the victim and his family. The authorities are still investigating and have not released that information. Once that information is released, you can be sure it'll be posted on this site.

THIS IS A TRAGEDY!!! He did not choose to abandon his family!!! This was a accident!! His little girls birthday is coming up and now instead of a celebration there will be grieving that he will not be able to see his daughter turn 3. I understand people have lives and family matters to attend but now Eric will not be there for a special occasion. You are heartless and should be ashamed to comment on something you know nothing about. I have about had it with all these negative comments!!!

Eric was a amazing father and friend...I knew him very well and he will be missed greatly...my thoughts and prayers are with him his family and daughter...So stop with the negativity cause u don't know him u don't know what type of person he was...R.I.P Eric

Wow, Carrie you need to relax a little. I'm worried you are going to stroke out from all your stress. I am a fellow commuter on the BN with kids in day care but I can't understand why you are so angry.

Let's have compassion for the poor engineer too. There was no reason for this trauma for him! My brother in law drove a train for 40 years and says 99.9% of the fatalities are the persons fault, i.e. suicide, ignorance and disregard for the signals. Then better yet the famalies still sue! Go figure!

He was a great man, one of the kindest gentlest souls I've ever known. My heart is heavy right now R.I.P. Eric you will be missed and never forgotten. My thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends.

I am disgusted by the behavior of the people making ignorant comments, last night I sat with Eric's girlfriend while she struggled with the reality of her new situation. Get a grip, you might have been late, you may have missed an important event but last night I sat with a woman who lost the love of her life and the father of her beautiful daughter. No one knows what happened to Eric, so until the facts are out why don't you all find something better to do than add hostility to this tragedy.

I have neither the time.or energy to read all these posts. But have two quick comments. First of all. Carrie, I am glad you are coming to.some acceptance and will get to the point of peace. Maybe this just snowballed inside because you were already in pain.for those who are mad because you think this man had headphones in or otherwise wasn't.paying attention and that caused your delay...... none of you have almost had an accident or accidentally ran.a stop sign? Does that make sense to be mad.for.that reason? I actually find it.more upsetting if it.was a careless accident. We all could have been in one at least 10 times in our lives. It doesn't make it this man's fault.....which is why it is called accident. Peace to all time to detrain at my stop.

My prayers go out to the victim's family. I was on 5.22 train that got delayed by 3 hrs. I was upset that it took 3 hrs for the authorities to move the train back on to the right track and keep it going. I hope next time something like this happens, they clear the traffic quickly.

Very sad story and such heartbreak for the family. He leaves behind a small child and her Mother my thoughts and prayers are with his family and may he rest in peace. I think what I find most disturbing was the nasty comments people are leaving about him making them late for appointments, or dinner, or an Aunts Wake all because they had to wait on the train for a few hours due to the nature of the incident. No one knows what happened and how dare any of us judge or assume its a suicide be fore all the facts have even come out the accident is still under investigation you should all be ashamed of yourselves. To call him stupid, selfish, idiotic on a public forum where his family can see and read is to me what is selfish. A man lost his life we don't know why but regardless time to show some compassion in this society and enough of the ignorance and hatred because your day/evening was interrupted as far as I can tell I don't think your world was coming to an end but for this mans family their entire world came crashing down in an instant. I think we all need to consider it could of been one of our family members..

Since I found out Eric died on Thursday, I'd kind of been walking around in a daze. Totally distracted, I hadn't cried yet because of the shock. I've know Eric for 15yrs. People grow up, have babies (which he did) get married (which i did) and they see each other here and there (which we did). I'd see him in Jewel, around the neighborhood, etc.Last night, I made the mistake of coming on here and actually reading these comments. I don't know why, HUGE MISTAKE! I laid in bed afterwards and finally I cried.I finally l let myself really think about Eric, and what this really means. I will never see his big blue eyes sparkle with laughter, or his huge, wide grin. His daughter who shares those huge blue eyes will never again get to look into the ones identical to hers again. I'm thinking I'll never get to hear his laugh, his stories, his voice. I think about his girlfriend, and try to imagine what shes going through. If that was my hubs, I wouldn't be able to get out of bed. I'd lay with his dirty laundry that smelled of him. I think about my friend who was hit by a train, who I firmly believe DID NOT do this on purpose.People get distracted. EX:someone looks down at their radio and rear ends someone. They think "Dang..I should of been paying attention", but Eric can't say that. He can't apologize for his mistake.I think about my friend and how horrible the scene must have been, the fact he had to die this way, publicly and vulnerable to people criticizing him.

So excuse me if i don't care about your kid's recital, or your dinner,or your aunt who probably had a funeral anyway where you could say goodbye. I care about the fact so many lost a great guy, who I carry so many wonderful memories about, and all people can do is bad mouth him. If Eric had been stuck on that train, I think I can say 1: He wouldn't troll on here to complain about the person that died, and 2: He would've been sympathetic. You people should be ashamed of your self. He had a life too, put his pants leg on one at a time, just like you. I'm scared for the world we live in. Desensitized from tragedy and horror.

I think life was better before social media, when there wasn't so much direct evidence of the callousness and selfishness in people's hearts and minds; at least I could be blissfully ignorant and assume such thoughts were very rare. I rather hate knowing otherwise. My heart goes out to the little girl, and it pains me to think of the terrible knowledge she'll have to grow up with and carry for the rest of her life, long after we've all forgotten this tragedy. May the man rest in peace and his memory live in those he left behind. To those of you making assumptions and judgments, especially if you have children of your own, go and sit in judgment on yourselves.

We're shutting down comments on this story because the discussion has become repetitive and is no longer covering new ground. Thanks everyone for their opinions and for sharing their memories of Eric Bennett.