A teenage boy was killed in Maple Park, Ill., a far-western suburb of Chicago, at about 9:30 PM on Saturday, May 31, hit by a Union Pacific freight train, the Aurora Beacon-News reports.
Police have ruled out foul play and suicide in the death of Parker Wolfsmith, 14, but what they can’t figure out is why he left a friend’s yard and wandered over by the train tracks in the first place.
Maple Park Police Chief Mike Acosta even speculated that the kids might have been playing a game that’s becoming popular with young people these days, where they try to get as close as possible to a moving train and take a selfie on their smartphones.
“It’s like playing a game of chicken for the kids,” the Beacon-News quoted Mr Acosta as saying. “They like to feel the power of the train and the wind rushing by. We are looking to see if this was a factor in the accident.”
Parker, a student at Kaneland Harter Middle School in Sugar Grove, was pronounced dead at the scene.
