Airman Who Helped Thwart Train Attack Treated for Stab Wounds

As we reported yesterday, one of the heroes who thwarted the French train terrorist attack earlier this summer was stabbed late Wednesday night in Sacramento, California outside of a night club.

Thursday’s stabbing, which took place around 12:45 a.m. near 21st and K streets, was part of a “very unfortunate altercation between two groups of folks who were enjoying the nightlife” in Sacramento’s midtown area, Deputy Police Chief Ken Bernard told reporters.

No arrests have been made so far.

Bernard said that the stabbing was “not related to terrorism in any way” and that there’s no indication whoever stabbed Stone knew who he was.

Stone was out with four friends when they got into a fight near a bar with another group of people, Bernard said.

“He’ll have close observation in our ICU until he’s determined to be not of a serious nature and then at a few point his care could be downgraded”, says Dr. J. Douglas Kirk, chief medical officer for the medical center.

The injuries were so severe that it was initially thought Mr Stone would not survive and a homicide investigation was launched, according to KCRA-TV.

Details of the stabbing early Thursday are unclear.

“The family of Airman Spencer Stone appreciates the outpouring of love and support”, UC Davis Health Systems said.

“I suspect given his history of recent events he is quite a fighter”, he said.

A fifth person due an award is French-American academic Mark Moogalian, who is now recovering in a hospital from a neck wound inflicted by the gunman before the other men got involved. Stone was heavily sedated after undergoing surgery for about two hours to fix damage from stab wounds to his torso, Kirk said.

The suspect, Ayoub El-Khazzani, 25, was carrying 270 bullets for his assault rifle and a bottle of petrol. The Moroccan’s phone showed that he had watched a jihadist video shortly before launching the attack, and prosecutors have filed formal charges against him.

“Everybody send prayers out to the Stone family today”, he tweeted. An Air Force spokesman says Stone is in stable condition. He received the Purple Heart and Airman’s Medal and it was announced last month that he would be promoted two ranks to staff sergeant.

He and two others, Alek Skarlatos and Anthony Sadler, were praised by French President Francois Hollande.

Skarlatos, whose heroics led to an invitation from ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars”, was rehearsing in Los Angeles instead of attending Umpqua Community College when a gunman killed nine people there October 1.

President Barack Obama later welcomed the three Americans at the White House to thank them for their actions.