Woman dies from being pushed into San Francisco-area commuter train

SAN FRANCISCO -- A homeless man allegedly pushed a 74-year-old woman into an arriving San Francisco Bay Area commuter train, killing her, police said Tuesday.

Authorities with Bay Area Rapid Transit, better known as BART, said in a statement that the woman hit her head on the train and fell onto the platform in downtown San Francisco. She died at a local hospital.

The woman was pushed shortly after 11 p.m. Monday at the Powell Street station, authorities said. A 49-year-old man described by police as transient was booked into jail early Tuesday.

BART police did not identify the woman and did not provide a motive. The investigation is ongoing.

Homicides are rare on BART, which travels throughout much of the Bay Area. This is the first homicide of the year.

In New York City, a passenger died in March after being pushed into an oncoming subway train in an unprovoked attack by a person experiencing mental health issues. Two years ago, a homeless man pushed an Asian American woman into the NYC subway at the Times Square station, killing her.

Such seemingly random crimes attract widespread attention, but advocates for people who are homeless say they are more likely to be victims and not perpetrators of crime.