By Ben Fractenberg and Heather Grossmann
DNAinfo Staff
MORNINGSIDE HEIGHTS — An 18-year-old man was struck and killed by a downtown 1 train at the Columbia University subway stop Monday morning, police said.
Police and ambulances surrounded the station at West 116th Street and Broadway about 10:30 a.m.
There were early reports by police on the scene that it appeared to be a suicide. Police are still investigating how the young man ended up on the tracks, but they said criminality had been ruled out.
The subway stop is trafficked by thousands of Columbia University students every day, however police said the victim was not a Columbia student. The university had no comment on the incident.
Dana Horn, who lives nearby, was trying to get downtown to run some errands.
"I was walking down the stairs behind a guy whose jacket said Medical Examiner, and I know that means some one's dead," Horn said.
"You have to be really miserable to put yourself in front of a train. It kind of breaks my heart," Horn said of the reports that the incident was a suicide.
Chivaz Ktheri, an exchange student studying at Columbia, said, "New York is very hard, life is very hard.
“We all have thought about suicide at least one time in our lives, but there’s a big difference between thinking and acting."
From Jan. 2 to March 16, 21 people were struck by subway trains citywide, according to preliminary statistics from NYC Transit. Of those, 10 people were killed and 11 were pulled from the tracks alive.
Manhattan-bound 1 trains have resumed normal service.
If you are in a crisis and need help, please call the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
