ShawneeDispatch.com

A 10-year-old boy from Basehor and Bonner Springs was killed Saturday when he was struck by a Union Pacific freight train in Bonner Springs.

The Kansas Highway Patrol said Troy Joseph Chilson, 10, was struck and killed at 3:05 p.m. Saturday. The accident occurred near Front Street and Loring Drive in Bonner Springs.

The patrol said T.J., as he was known, and his brother, Steven Shaul, 16, of Bonner Springs, were pushing a motorcycle westbound on the railroad tracks. While they were crossing a bridge, they heard a train approaching in their direction.

The two boys started running away with the motorcycle but could not outrun the train, which officials said takes nearly half a mile before it can come to a complete stop.

The train struck T.J. and he suffered fatal injuries. Shaul escaped with possible injuries, according to the accident report.

This week, officials at Glenwood Ridge Elementary School in Basehor, where T.J. was a fourth-grade student, were trying to maintain as normal an atmosphere as possible. Principal Linda McFarlane sent a letter home to parents informing them of the boy's death.

Three grief counselors were brought to the school this week for grieving students. School district officials said the counselors would be available as long as they were needed.

Funeral services will be at 11 a.m. Friday, May 21, at the Bonner Springs Baptist Church with burial to follow at the Bonner Springs Cemetery. Visitation will be from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday at the Alden-Harrington Funeral Home in Bonner Springs.