Stanford doctorate student identified as man struck and killed by train
A university official said the person killed was set to earn his doctorate in physics this spring and currently worked as a teaching assistant.
The man struck and killed by a Caltrain on Sunday night has been identified as a Stanford University doctorate student, the university announced.
Jonathan San Miguel was pronounced dead at the scene after he was struck around 8:43 p.m. Sunday at the Churchill Avenue grade crossing, about a mile south of the Palo Alto station and three-quarters of a mile north of the California Avenue station.
In a statement posted to a university website late Monday night, Vice Provost for Student Affairs Susie Brubaker-Cole said San Miguel was set to earn his doctorate in physics this spring and was working as a teaching assistant. San Miguel graduated from the University of Maryland and enrolled at Stanford in the fall of 2017.
“We have reached out to Jonathan’s family, friends, and fellow scholars and research colleagues in the Physics Department,” Brubaker-Cole wrote. “My heart goes out to all who knew and loved him.”
The death was Caltrain’s second in 2023. The first occurred in a San Francisco tunnel in January.
The university provides numerous mental-health services to students grieving the death of a peer, including counseling. Support is available through Stanford’s 24/7 Counseling and Psychological Services line at (650) 723-3785.
If you or someone you know is struggling with feelings of depression or suicidal thoughts, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline offers free, round-the-clock support, information and resources for help. Reach the lifeline at 988 or 800-273-8255, or see the 988lifeline.org website.