The Pauls Valley community is grieving the loss of a Pauls Valley Junior High School student who was hit and killed by a train as he walked home from school Tuesday.
The boy, identified as 14-year-old Dominic Agoston-Heath, was walking southbound on the railroad tracks about 4:45 p.m. Tuesday when he was struck by a northbound BNSF train in the 100 block of S. Earl Street.
He was transported from the scene to the Pauls Valley hospital by Mercy EMS where he was pronounced dead.
Pauls Valley schools had counselors available for students and staff Wednesday.
“It’s a terrible tragedy,” Pauls Valley Superintendent Mike Martin said. “It is pretty much a day where you just get everyone together and let them visit and process and just grieve.”
Students and staff at the junior high school decorated Agoston-Heath’s locker Wednesday in his memory, and memorial walls had been setup at the school for students to write notes or share memories of him.
Wednesday morning Pauls Valley Police Chief Derrick Jolley said misinformation and rumors regarding the circumstances of the accident had already begun to circulate, especially on social media.
“We have not been able to substantiate any of those,” Jolley said.
He said officials have viewed video footage from the junior high school and Agoston-Heath can be seen walking away from the school by himself in the direction of his home, located on the other side of the train tracks. Jolley said in the video the child is looking down, possibly at a device, and disappears from view about four minutes before first responders received the accident call.
Jolley said by all accounts, Agoston-Heath was “a happy, everyday kid.”
As of now, he said investigators have no reason to believe the situation was anything other than a tragic accident.
The Pauls Valley Police Department is continuing to work with BNSF to investigate the accident.
Other agencies assisting at the accident scene were Pauls Valley Fire Department, Garvin County Sheriff’s Office, Oklahoma Highway Patrol, Rush Creek Fire Department and BNSF Police.
