Train strikes, kills two young men

Two young men were struck by a train and killed Sunday while walking along the BNSF Railway tracks south of Tacoma, railroad officials said.

A Union Pacific freight train traveling from Tacoma to Portland struck the men, who were estimated to be 18 to 20 years old, said Gus Melonas, a railway spokesman.

The men's names were not immediately available.

One man was walking on the tracks and the other was beside them, Melonas said. The train, which had been traveling at 40 mph, sounded its horn repeatedly before attempting an emergency stop.

The accident occurred on the railroad's double main line, which was closed to all traffic about 4:10 p.m., about 12 ½ miles south of Tacoma and four miles north of Steilacoom.

The train was carrying three locomotives and 73 cars, Melonas said.

No cars derailed, and no railroad employees were injured. Melonas said there are no crossings in the area.

Railroad authorities and local police were investigating.

43-year-old dies in stabbing at pub

An off-duty employee was fatally stabbed in a fight at Eli's Pub in Kent about 1 a.m.

The 43-year-old, stabbed during a melee involving 10 to 12 people, died at the scene.

A 32-year-old customer also was stabbed and taken to a hospital.

The assailants fled the pub, at 24228 104th Ave. S.E., before police arrived.

Kent

Woman shot in robbery attempt

A woman was shot in the back and the leg during a robbery attempt near the Fred Meyer store at 10201 S.E. 240th St. in Kent.

Police were notified at 12:40 a.m. Sunday.

The 31-year-old, accompanied by another woman, gave three strangers a ride from a 7-Eleven store. The three young men then tried to rob the women. One of the men had a pistol and fired several times.

The woman was taken to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.

Oregon Marine killed in Iraq

ALBANY, Ore. — A 21-year-old Marine from Oregon was killed in Iraq on Saturday, his family confirmed.

Tyler Troyer, a lance corporal with the 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marine G Company, was attacked by insurgents on an early-morning patrol near Fallujah, his mother told the Democrat Herald in Albany.

Terri Thorpe, of Tangent, said her son was shot in the head.

Troyer, a 2002 graduate of West Albany High School, enlisted in the Marines to earn money for college. "I had to sign the papers because he wasn't 18," Thorpe said.

"He gave his life for people that he didn't know," she said. "Whether he was right or wrong, or the war's right or wrong, I can't answer that.

"I don't expect anyone to understand how I'm feeling. I do expect them to show our guys in Iraq respect."

Troyer is the third person from West Albany High to die in Iraq.

He was the school baseball team's only left-handed pitcher and helped lead the team to the playoffs in 2002, the first time in 41 years.

Chad Angel, who coached Troyer for one season, described him: "Real talkative. Typical left-handed pitcher, you know? A little bit out there at times. Everybody liked him. He was everybody's friend."

Troyer was engaged and planned to get married on the beach in Oregon when he returned early next year.

Seattle Times staff and news services