3 people wounded in shooting on high-speed train

The two were apparently injured in the incident.

“They figured something was going on and took matters into their own hands and potentially saved maybe dozens, hundreds of lives”, the former Pennsylvania senator told Wolf Blitzer on CNN. When a man carrying an AK-47 and a pistol emerged, they confronted and disabled him.

Reports note that the suspected terrorist exited the restroom and opened fire.

Two of the victims were last night in critical condition, according to a statement from the office of President Francois Hollande.

French media reports say the American men were U.S. Marines. One of the injuries was said to be “serious”.

France remains on a high state of alert following deadly Islamist terror attacks on the Paris headquarters of Charlie Hebdo, a satirical magazine that published cartoons mocking the Islamic “prophet” Mohammed, and a Jewish supermarket, earlier this year.

The attack took place while the high-speed train, operated by Thalys, was traveling through Belgium.

The interior minister praised the Americans, one of whom was seriously injured, as was another passenger.

And in July, French officials said they had prevented an attack on a senior French military official by arresting four people whose leader had links to jailed jihadists.

The suspect was described as a 26-year-old Moroccan.

French officials were refusing to characterize the episode as terrorism late Friday night.

The suspect told authorities that he boarded the train in Brussels.

The man was armed with an automatic rifle and a knife, Piednoel said. Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve is on his way to the scene.

He said that the suspect is under custody and is being questioned by investigators.

A man was arrested when the train stopped at Arras station in northern France but his motives were not yet known, a ministry spokesman said. Police said a motive is unknown at the time.

But officials were soon shedding such caution.

In a separate statement, French presidency said Hollande and Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel vowed to step up security cooperation and consolidate efforts to facilitate the investigation into the shooting.

I shudder to think what could have happened if not for these Marines.