Three days after a man died on the train tracks at the 79th Street Red Line station and two days after his death was ruled a homicide, authorities were still unable to provide details on what had led to his death.
An autopsy for the 32-year-old man, whose identity hadn’t been released as of Thursday night, found that he died late Tuesday night from being electrocuted on the third rail. The Chicago Fire Department confirmed they had transported the man to University of Chicago Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
A representative from the Cook County medical examiner’s office confirmed that the autopsy ruling was correct but referred additional questions to the investigating agency: the Chicago Police Department.
As of Friday, the Police Department was listing its follow-up investigation as a death investigation. Spokesperson Tom Ahern reiterated that Area 2 detectives were looking into the matter as a death investigation and said there was no additional information.
CTA stations are equipped with video cameras and a CTA representative said in a statement Tuesday night that the agency was cooperating with the police investigation.
Security, both real and perceived, on the CTA has been a persistent concern following the pandemic as the agency works to attract riders. The transit service earlier this week rolled out a gun detection system based in artificial intelligence as part of its effort to bring down violent crime on its trains. The agency most recently reported a dip in crime at the end of 2023.
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