Three People Hurt After Gunman Opens Fire on Train in France

A man lies on the on floor in the Amsterdam to Paris Thalys high-speed train. A police officer was shot dead outside and five more people were killed in related attacks.

He said: ‘Thanks to them we have averted a drama.

He said it’s too early to know whether the attack was terror-related.

Counter-terrorism investigators have launched a probe.

Le Monde said the man also had an automatic pistol and had so far refused to talk to police in Arras. “He was stopped by passengers”.

One of those injured in the incident is a member of the U.S. military, a Defense Department official said. AFP cited French officials saying the suspect is “known to intelligence services”.

French officials said the suspect is 26 years old, but didn’t give his name.

“I would like to express our gratitude to and admiration for these two American passengers”, said Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve of the heroic act. CNN reported that Paris’ anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office will investigate the attack. He suffered a light hand injury, Blondeau said.

Two of the victims are in a critical condition.

Cazeneuve described the shooting as “an attack of barbaric violence”. The attack occurred as the train was hurtling at top speed toward Paris, in Belgian territory.

A spokesman for the train company Thalys said: ‘The situation is under control, the travellers are safe. Witnesses from the train told French media that the attack apparently began near the back of the train, raising the possibility that the intent was to move forward through the train, which was carrying 554 passengers aboard. Current reports are conflicting about whether two or three American serviceman-rumored but unconfirmed to be Marines-were involved in the incident. He is known to French authorities and is believed to be an ISIS sympathizer.

Christophe Piednoel, a spokesman for French railway SNCF, said on iTele television: “The man was armed with automatic weapons and blades”.

A gunman has opened fire on passengers on board a train travelling from Amsterdam to Paris, injuring three people.

They showed “great bravery in very trying circumstances”, he said. The men reportedly intervened to stop the gunman before he was able to fire his rifle in the train vehicle.

“I saw the man who was shot in the neck stumble”, she said.