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Shots Fired: Amsterdam Train Tragedy Thwarted By U.S. Marines
Posted On Aug 21 2015
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Two US Marines heroically stopped hundreds of train passengers being killed after they heard the distinctive sound of the gunman’s AK-47 being loaded.
Three other service members were involved in the incident: two Marines and one service member whose branch was unknown at press time, the report says.
“Thanks to (the Americans) we have averted a drama”, said French Interior Minster Bernard Cazeneuve in French.
Three off-duty, unarmed U.S. military servicemen reportedly overpowered an active gunman when he opened fire in a train traveling to Paris, France, on August 21. The terrorist, identified as a Moroccan, was heard by the off-duty US Marines loading a Kalashnikov assault rifle in a toilet when they intervened.
The gunman is believed to have boarded the train in Brussels, Belgium armed with automatic weapons, knives and at least nine full magazines of ammunition holding nearly 300 rounds, according to a report from the Daily Mail.
The high-speed train was headed from Amsterdam for Paris.
“They were particularly courageous and showed extreme bravery in extremely hard circumstances”.
The suspect was arrested when the train stopped at Arras station in northern France.
No specific motive for the thwarted attack has been identified, and while one French official said “It is too early to speak of a terrorist link”, attempted terrorism is highly suspected, potential terrorism and deaths derailed by U.S. Marines.
French actor Jean-Hugues Anglade was the third passenger wounded, injuring his hand as he pulled the alarm cord in the connecting carriage, where he was travelling with his son. “Everything is being done to shed light on this tragedy”.
The minister urged caution over the likely nature of the attack, which he said was a matter for the prosecutor to investigate.
A massacre on a high-speed train in France was prevented Friday when two U.S. Marines in civilian clothing surprised an Islamist militant, a senior European counterterrorism official told CNN.
