OPD: Man dies after lying down in front of freight train

Members of the Ocala Police Department and Ocala Fire Rescue work at the scene where a pedestrian was struck and killed by a CSX train on Northeast 19th Avenue near the intersection of Northeast 20th Street in Ocala, Fla. on Thursday, August 10, 2023. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette] 2023.

A 33-year-old man died Thursday afternoon after he reportedly laid down on railroad tracks in Northeast Ocala and was struck by an oncoming CSX freight train.

According to Ocala Police Department officials, the fatality occurred around 12:33 p.m., just west of the railroad crossing at Northeast 19th Avenue and Northeast 20th Street.

Late Thursday afternoon, OPD officials said the man was identified as Marion County resident, John Andrew Anderson, who lived just outside Ocala city limits.

According to OPD Lt. Matthew Bos, Anderson was standing near a wood line and then walked out and “laid down” on the tracks and was struck.

The 162-car freight train was headed from Jacksonville to Lakeland, according to a press release from OPD Public Information Officer Jeffrey Walczak.

Bos stated it likely took the westbound train one quarter of a mile to stop.

Ocala Fire Rescue also responded to the incident.

Members of the Ocala Police Department and Ocala Fire Rescue work at the scene where a pedestrian was struck and killed by a CSX train on Northeast 19th Avenue near the intersection of Northeast 20th Street in Ocala, Fla. on Thursday, August 10, 2023. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette] 2023.