Tomassino Offer

Tomassino "Tommy" Offer was <cite index="5-5">an 18-year-old freshman who was struck and killed by a freight train in Wheaton, Illinois, on Sunday morning, October 11, 2026</cite>, not long after <cite index="5-6">he had recently moved from Michigan to attend Wheaton College, where he planned to study business and play baseball</cite>. Before college, he attended Notre Dame Preparatory School in Pontiac, Michigan, as part of its Class of 2026. According to a February 2026 school announcement, <cite index="3-9">Offer earned recognition as a 2025 Academic All-District honoree and participated in the 2025 Prep Baseball Report Michigan Top Prospects Game, and he was also named Notre Dame Preparatory School's Most Improved baseball player in 2025</cite>. He was additionally <cite index="3-11">a three-time varsity letter winner</cite> and <cite index="2-8">a multi-sport athlete during his high school years, playing both baseball and soccer</cite>, winning a state soccer championship with his teammates.

Offer was only weeks into his freshman year when he died. He died on Sunday, October 11, 2026, at <cite index="2-2">approximately 10:20 a.m. at the Main Street railroad crossing in Wheaton</cite>, Illinois. <cite index="0-9">A Metra spokesperson said Offer attempted to cross the tracks near Main St. after one train passed but was unaware of another train approaching from the opposite direction</cite>. <cite index="2-5">The student was struck by the second train and pronounced dead at the scene</cite>.

Before the accident, <cite index="0-10">the Rev. Santos Castillo of St. Michael Catholic Church said he spoke with Offer shortly before he left the church and that the freshman was heading to Chicago with a friend</cite>. <cite index="4-10,4-11">Castillo said Offer had waved goodbye before leaving with his friend Joe, and expressed sadness over the unexpected loss, recalling that he had no way of knowing it would be the last time he saw the student at church</cite>.

News of the death was first reported by Chicago media and spread quickly through both the Wheaton College community and Offer's former school in Michigan. <cite index="5-8">Students from Wheaton College and members of the local community gathered Monday at St. Michael Catholic Church to honor Tomassino Offer</cite> in a memorial Mass. Notre Dame Preparatory School also issued a statement, saying <cite index="0-6">"Tomassino Offer was an outstanding student and an even better young man"</cite>, and noting that <cite index="0-8">he was loved by his teachers and classmates and had many friends, including his soccer teammates with whom he won a state championship, and his baseball teammates</cite>.

Authorities continued to review the circumstances of the crossing incident in the days afterward. Offer is remembered as a devoted member of his parish, a committed teammate in two sports, and a young man who had only just begun the next chapter of his life at college.