LIRR suspects suicide in fatal train strike

Emergency personnel respond to the scene of a pedestrian struck by a westbound Long Island Rail Road passenger train near the Robbins Lane crossing in Syosset. (Oct.16, 2013) Credit: Mark Bellew
The death of a woman who was killed when struck by a Long Island Rail Road train late Wednesday in Syosset is being investigated as a suicide, a spokesman for the commuter service said Thursday.
The unidentified woman was struck at about 4:30 p.m. Wednesday by a westbound nonpassenger train on the Port Jefferson Branch at the Robbins Lane crossing in Syosset, spokesman Salvatore Arena said.
The gates at the crossing were down at the time, and Metropolitan Transportation Authority police are investigating, Arena said.