Young boy separated from grandparents on MetroLink during Cardinals game

By Deion Broxton

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    ST. LOUIS (KMOV) — A Metro East family wants an explanation from Metro Transit after a boy was separated from his grandparents after attending a Cardinals game.

According to Danny Brown of Caseyville, after leaving a Cardinals baseball in Downtown St. Louis Tuesday night, his 8-year-old grandson, Matthew Brown, stepped onto the MetroLink train before Brown and Matthew’s grandmother.

Brown said the MetroLink train door closed in his face before he could enter–separating Matthew from his grandparents. Brown said they pressed the emergency call button at the Busch Stadium platform stop, but no one responded. Luckily, Brown said a nearby security guard saw what happened and called Metro security to assist with retrieving the child.

“Closed right on our face,” Brown told First Alert 4. “He was jumping up and down, going ‘grandma, grandma, grandma.’ It took off with our 8-year-old grandson on it. We pressed the emergency button. We didn’t get a response.”

Bi-State Development, the company that oversees Metro Transit, sent First Alert 4 the following statement:

“This was a best ending possible for when a youngster gets separated from family members in a large crowd. Tuesday night, our Public Safety team and the Real Time Camera Center reacted quickly, and about three minutes after the boy boarded, he was removed from the train two downtown stops later. We kept him safe until he was reunited with his grandparents.

“This is a great reminder that no matter where you are with your family, whether you are shopping in a big store, at the zoo, at a ballgame, at an amusement park or at a fair where there are huge crowds, parents and grandparents need to keep their children close to them and make sure they are control of where their children are and what they are doing so you don’t become separated.”

First Alert 4 reported a similar incident in 2022. A 10-year-old girl was separated from her parents after the girl stepped off a MetroLink train without her parents.

“I would suggest that if there is something is happening and the door is not closed yet, to block the door so the operator can’t close the door,” Scott told First Alert 4 in 2022.

Scott told First Alert 4 only the driver can stop the train, but emergency stops could cause injuries. He added the red emergency buttons on trains allow passengers to communicate with the metro link driver.

MetroLink trains stop for roughly 20 seconds at platforms. Drivers are required to mirrors to confirm no one is at risk of being injured, according to Metro Transit.

Brown said passengers pressed the emergency buttons on the train Tuesday night when they saw Matthew get separated from his family. Brown said it took roughly 30 minutes to be reunited with his grandson.

First Alert 4 requested surveillance video and documents to confirm if the emergency call button at the Busch stadium platform was working.

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