Americans Credited With Stopping Attacker on Paris-Bound Train

Belgian and French investigators are looking into the man’s motives, although police sources told French broadcaster i-Tele that he has denied having terrorist intentions.

Emanuel Skarlatos, father of American Alek Skarlatos, explained how his son helped subdue a gunman on a Paris-bound train.

One member of staff found himself under fire and took five or six passengers with him into the baggage vehicle, where he sounded the alarm, she said.

French interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve confirmed Spanish intelligence services had flagged the man to France “due to his membership of the radical Islamist movement”.

The suspect, believed to be a man of Moroccan origin who recently lived in Spain and Belgium, was reportedly armed with a slew of weapons: A Kalashnikov assault weapon, nine chargers, a Luger automatic pistol, a 9mm charger and a box cutter. He was just telling us to give back his gun: ‘Give me back my gun!

Airman 1st Class Spencer Stone, Oregon National Guardsman Alek Skarlatos and Anthony Sadler tackled the gunman and wrestled away his AK-47 semi-automatic rifle before the man could fire it. They then tended to a passenger who had been wounded by the gunman. “The gunman pulled out a box cutter and sliced Spencer a few times”.

“At that point, I showed up and grabbed the gun from him and basically started beating him in the head until he fell unconscious”, said Mr Skarlatos.

They were then joined by their friend Anthony Sadler and 62-year-old Briton Chris Norman.

“He didn’t say anything. Spencer just ran anyway and if anybody would have gotten shot it would have been Spencer for sure and we are very lucky that nobody got killed, especially Spencer”.

“I am just beginning to realize what we did”. “I’d rather die getting active”.

British passenger Chris Norman told French television that he helped tie the gunman up.

The fearless British businessman was working on his computer aboard the high-speed passenger train when he said he heard a gunshot and glass breaking.

Stone, Sadler, and Skarlatos were expected to be personally thanked by French President French President François Hollande at the Elysee palace on Saturday. He was eventually overwhelmed by passengers including two American soldiers, one of whom was hurt in the incident. Neither are in critical condition, Cazeneuve said.

Three US Marines were on board the train and overpowered the man, French media said. “Without his help, he would have died”.

The aggressor, who has not yet been identified, was arrested at Arras train station, where the interior minister will be shortly.

“I’m just a college student”, said Sadler. “It’s kind of insane”. “

While the investigation into the attack is in its early stages, it is clear that their heroic actions may have prevented a far worse tragedy”, {

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Analysts said it was not surprising someone could launch an attack even though he was on a watch-list.

“It’s the perennial problem of how you prioritize between serious concerns”, said Raffaello Pantucci, counter-terrorism expert at Royal United Services Institute in London.