Amtrak engineer charged in deaths of homeless men

An Amtrak train engineer who called police on Sunday to say he might have been involved in a shooting has been charged with murder in the deaths of two homeless men whose bodies were found on the platform of the Pomona train station, authorities said.

Christopher Matthew Peterson is accused of killing Robert Salinas Jr., 37, and Jeremy Alexander Henness, 31, Pomona police said.

Peterson, 40, was not on duty “before or during the incident,” said Amtrak spokeswoman Olivia Irvin. He had last worked two days beforehand, she said.

He pleaded not guilty Thursday, a district attorney’s spokesman said.

The slain men’s bodies were found early Sunday by another homeless man, who went to a nearby business to report them, police said.

When officers responded around 4:30 a.m., they found the bodies lying on the east edge of the train platform, said Sgt. Brian Hagerty. The men had been shot multiple times and were pronounced dead at the scene.

While at the station, investigators received a call from Ontario police shortly after 5 a.m. saying they had a man on the line who “thinks he may have been involved in a shooting in Pomona,” Hagerty said. “He said he was a little intoxicated or high, but he might have been involved in a shooting.”

The caller was identified as Peterson, who lives in Ontario, about seven miles from the train station, with his wife and children. Pomona investigators went to his home and, after a brief interview, arrested him, Hagerty said.

Peterson told investigators he acted in self-defense but then invoked his right to an attorney, ending the interview, Hagerty said.

“We don’t know if there was some kind of fight,” he said. “We’re still trying to piece it all together.”

Sgt. Jon Edson said detectives found drug paraphernalia next to the men’s bodies and are looking into whether the shooting was drug-related.

Investigators plan to test a gun found in Peterson’s home, Edson said. The weapon, he said, is registered to Peterson, but police have not found evidence that he had a permit to carry a concealed weapon.

Peterson, an Amtrak employee since 2010, “has been removed from service pending further investigation,” said Irvin, the company spokeswoman.

Peterson was charged Tuesday and is being held without bail, according to online court and jail records.

Pomona police ask that anyone with information about the killings call them at (909) 620-2085. To remain anonymous, call Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-8477.