– A 63-year-old woman who lifted a railroad crossing safety gate as warning lights were flashing was struck and killed by an Amtrak train. Police in Charlotte, NC, say the woman got out of an SUV on Friday night that was stopped at the gate, which was lowered with red lights flashing, the Charlotte Observer reports. Sarah Weagba Doe lifted the arms of the gate to allow the Chevy Equinox to cross the tracks and was hit by southbound Amtrak No. 79 as she walked back to the vehicle, per Q City Metro. She was pronounced dead at the scene at 9:13pm. Police were investigating if drugs or alcohol played a role. Nobody else was injured in the accident near the UNC campus. "This is just a really scary situation," a passenger aboard the train tells WSOC. "You don't expect to travel somewhere and the train to hit someone." (Conductors who stepped off a freight train to check a problem were killed by a passing Amtrak train.)