France train gunman ‘dumbfounded’ by terrorism claims

The alleged attacker, named as 25-year-old Moroccan national Ayob El Khazzani, opened fire with an assault rifle on Friday evening, but was wrestled to the floor by three American passengers who have been hailed as heroes.

“I trust both my friends very much”, Stone said.

Three Americans who helped subdue an armed gunman on a high-speed train en route from the Netherlands to France, have recounted a bit of their experiences during a news conference held at the U.S. embassy in Paris.

According to French media, intelligence services were aware of the arrested man who has refused to talk to police. Skarlatos, from Oregon, said Stone nearly lost his thumb. “So were we”.

Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel condemned what he called “the terrorist attack” and said he and French President Francois Hollande are working closely on the investigation.

El-Khazzani’s lawyer, Sophie David, said on French TV that her client claims he was just homeless and hungry and wanted to rob the train and then jump out a window.

The suspected attacker was armed with a Kalashnikov assault weapon, nine chargers, a Luger automatic pistol, a 9mm charger and a box cutter, the minister said.

Skarlatos said they acted instinctively when they saw the man enter the train vehicle with the gun.

A Spanish counter-terrorism source said Khazzani had lived in Spain for seven years, until last year. Got the handgun away from the guy and threw it, and then I grabbed the AK-47, which was at his feet.

El Khazzani remains in custody at the headquarters of the French DGSI anti-terrorism police at Levallois-Perret, Paris, where he was taken on Saturday morning.

A 28-year-old French passenger spotted the gunman as he exited a toilet cubicle and tried to disarm him, but Khazzani slipped away and fired several shots.

U.S. Air Force Airman 1st Class Spencer Stone tackled the gunman, and Skarlatos knocked him unconscious with the butt of his rifle.

Mr Stone said: “I turned around and he appeared to have what looked like a AK-47”. “Our training kicked in after the struggle”.

After he was wounded, Stone is also credited with assisting a French-American passenger who was wounded by a bullet. “It was either do something or die”. “They are my friends and I couldn’t let them go alone”. Then I heard one guy, an American say “go get him”. “If he knew what he was doing – or even just got lucky and did the right thing – he would have been able to work through all eight of those magazines and we would have all been in trouble”.

“It feels unreal, like a dream”, Stone said. “I came to see my friends on my first trip in Europe and we stopped a terrorist, it’s kind of insane”, said Sadler, a senior at Sacramento State University. “Don’t just stand there and watch”.

“We often use the word hero, and in this case it is appropriate”, U.S. Ambassador to France Jane Hartley said in her introduction of the trio.

“They are truly heroes”.

“As soon as we saw him, we all ran back there”.