11-year-old wearing headphones when hit by train in Wisconsin

WAUWATOSA, Wis. — Officials say an 11-year-old boy killed on the railroad tracks in a Milwaukee suburb was wearing headphones and apparently did not hear the warning signals as a freight train approached.

Local school officials in Wauwatosa (wah-wah-TOH’-sah) identify the boy as Joey Kramer, a sixth-grader at Longfellow Middle School. Authorities say the boy was walking to school and was struck and killed by a Canadian Pacific Railway train about 7:30 a.m. Monday.

State Railroad Commissioner Jeff Plale tells the Journal Sentinel that Kramer was wearing a headseat and stepped out in front of the train. Canadian Pacific spokesman Ed Greenberg says the 32-car train was headed from Minneapolis to Chicago. He says the crossing gates were down at the time of the accident.