2-year-old killed by train while out walking with dog

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A two-year-old boy was struck and killed by a train on Monday while he was walking with a dog along railroad tracks in southwestern Kentucky, police said.

The boy, identified as Trayton Joiner by the Christian County coroner’s office, was taken by ambulance to a local hospital, where he died, said Hopkinsville Police Sergeant Martin Lopez. Hopkinsville is about 70 miles northwest of Nashville, Tenn.

Hopkinsville Police spokesman Paul Ray told WKDZ radio station that the train engineer saw the dog first, and then the child with the dog, but was unable to stop in time.

The train had two locomotives and was pulling 106 empty coal cars from Nashville, Tennessee to Madisonville, Kentucky, said CSX Corp. spokesman Rob Doolittle.

“It’s a tragic situation and our sympathies are with the family involved,” said Doolittle.

The dog, a female pit-bull mix, was also struck and was taken to Skyline Animal Clinic in Hopkinsville. She was expected to survive, according to clinic staff.

Lopez said officers located the child’s mother, and the investigation is continuing.