A teenager who was spraying graffiti on an abandoned building was killed by an oncoming train in Worcester Monday night, police said.
Michael Sclamo Jr., 19, of Southbridge, was with two friends at about 9:40 p.m. when they saw lights in the distance and heard the approaching Amtrak train sound its horn, police said in a statement. The three started running along the tracks across a bridge, and his two friends jumped out of the train’s path.
Sclamo, however, hesitated at the bridge and was struck by the train traveling at roughly 50 miles per hour, police said.
Police arrived on the scene shortly after the incident and discovered Sclamo on the embankment near Worcester’s Price Chopper on Cambridge Street.
The train, which had more than 100 passengers on board, was en route to Union Station in Worcester from Springfield.
Though the train engineer pulled the emergency brakes when he saw the teenagers, the train took about a mile to come to a complete stop, Amtrak spokesman Cliff Cole said. No passengers were injured.
Sclamo graduated from Shepherd Hill Regional High School in 2009 and had been working at a local factory with his father, said Gwen Bultron, 38, who is engaged to Sclamo’s father and considers Sclamo her own son.
“He was a teenage boy, a good kid who did right, never had a drink, never had a drug in his life,” said Bultron, who has been living with Sclamo for the past five years. “He was with the two best friends he had in the world, just doing their boy things, and this tragic accident happened.”
Sclamo’s passions ranged from photography to cars to skateboarding, Bultron said. Just three days ago, Sclamo told Bultron he wanted to go back to school.
“We wanted to look it up online, see what options were available, but we never got that chance,” Bultron said.
Taken from: Boston.com
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