Dist. 23 teacher killed by a train

The flickering emergency lights, droning helicopter and slowed trains made for an all-too-familiar grim scene for Caroline Jones and other Fox River Grove residents Friday morning.

They have seen too many train-related deaths in their town where railroad tracks cut through the heart of their community.

"There have been too many," said Jones, who was one of several residents to gather near the Lincoln Avenue Metra station Friday morning as emergency responders handled yet another fatality on the tracks.

Jones worked across the street from the train station when a Metra train struck a school bus, killing seven Cary-Grove High School students in 1995. And, like many in town, knows others affected by other train-related fatalities.

"It's hard to see this," she said as another resident called the situation "horrible."

The McHenry County coroner's office said Thomas A. Bujnowski, 47, of Fox River Grove was killed by a train Friday morning. The father of two young children was a physical education teacher in the Northwest suburbs, most recently for Prospect Heights Elementary District 23.

The coroner, Fox River Grove police, Metra and Union Pacific investigators are still looking into what happened before they got the 10:03 a.m. call of a man on the tracks. And that includes whether it was a commuter or freight train that hit him.

"We're continuing to investigate," deputy coroner Kim Bostic said. Toxicology tests are pending as well.

Rail commuters across Metra's Northwest line faced delays with one inbound train, the 640, and one outbound, the 611, delayed more than an hour. A shuttle bus carried passengers west from the Barrington station and, the eastbound train switched to another track as emergency crews handled the Fox River Grove situation.

If you have information, call police at (847) 639-2411.