Officials say the reason for the attempted stop was failure to wear a helmet. SEE ALSO: VSP determines incident at Madison Heights Walmart to be 'non-suspicious' The motorcyclist

Smith tried to beat the train on his motorcycle, but—spoiler alert—the train won. The locomotive slammed into his bike, sending it flying. That would have been a good time to sit tight and wait for help. But that’s not what Thomas did. Instead, he ran.

Roanoke Police identified 69-year-old Maria Domitila Nolasco Martinez and nine-year-old Jose Rodrigo Yanes Barahona, both of Roanoke, to be the victims killed in Sunday evening’s train crash. According to police,

The Virginia State Police are investigating another train collision in Roanoke involving a motorcyclist who allegedly failed to stop for a traffic ticket on March 11. VSP said that officers attempted to pull over a man riding a motorcycle on Campbell Avenue for failing to wear a helmet around 1:30 p.

Police are investigating in Roanoke after multiple people were struck by a train. It happened Sunday evening, just before 5:00 in the 700 block of Drew Ave NE. Officers arrived on the scene to find a woman and a boy dead,