On August 18th, shortly after 9:00am, Seattle Police and Seattle Fire responded to a call of a pedestrian struck by a train in Carkeek Park. Unfortunately, the collision resulted in a fatality. The victim is believed to be a woman in her fifties. As the first responders were checking on the victim, one of them noticed a small explosive device lying near the body. This item looked like a small, homemade pipe bomb. Out of an abundance of caution, detectives from the Arson Bomb Squad (ABS) responded, as did detectives from the Traffic Collision Investigation Squad (TCIS) to handle the collision investigation.
ABS detectives were able to examine the device and determined that it had been there for some time, possibly even left over from the Fourth of July. It is unlikely that the device would have done any damage to the tracks or train. ABS detectives removed the device and will examine and dispose of it.
There is no connection between the victim and the device. It was just a strange coincidence. TCIS detectives will handle the fatality collision investigation.