Man Killed By Train, Name Released

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. -- A man is dead after he was hit by a train early Sunday morning in Huntington. Police say alcohol was a factor in the accident.

Police say Kevin Tierney, 55, was leaving the Paddock Club around 1 a.m. on West 5th Street and 8th Avenue with his girlfriend. According to police, he had been drinking, but his girlfriend was sober. The couple was heading to their car, which was parked on the north side of the tracks.

“His girlfriend crossed first,” Lt. John Williams of the Huntington Police Department said. “She acknowledged the train had its lights on and the horn was blasting.”

The train conductor told police he saw Tierney, slowed down from 30 miles per hour and honked his horn, but he could not avoid hitting him.

Crossing train tracks is illegal, and his friends and police pointed out that there is an underground tunnel to cross under the tracks.

Police say Tierney’s girlfriend told them she was afraid to use the tunnel because it is usually dark.