France train shooting: Attack was ‘premeditated’

The terrorist suspect also carried a a 9mm handgun, a box-cutter and a bottle of petrol. “You behaved as soldiers but also as responsible men”.

It also suspected El-Khazzani may have been planning to burn up the scene after unleashing hundreds of bullets he was accused of bringing on board. That included a French passenger and a Franco-American who has been hospitalized for his wounds. They will receive the Legion of Honor in a separate ceremony. A former British Army colonel, writing in the Daily Telegraph, declared: “It’s an American thing”.

U.S. Airman Spencer Stone, National Guardsman Alek Skarlatos, and their longtime friend Anthony Sadler were honored for tackling and subduing El-Khazzani, a suspected Islamist militant carrying an AK-47 on the Paris-bound train Friday. “Very proud because there was a lot of people on the train and if they hadn’t stepped up, there could have been a lot of death”, said Heidi Hansen, Alek’s mother.

He attracted criticism for adding that such checks should be “discriminatory”, with some commentators suggesting that his advice was at odds with president Francois Hollande’s opposition to racial profiling.

The Americans, casual in vacation-style polo shirts and khakis against the backdrop of the highly formal presidential palace, appeared slightly overwhelmed as they received France’s highest honor.

Roberts said Stone is being treated for a cut to his thumb, for which a full recovery is expected with ongoing therapy, as well as a “non-critical” eye injury and other minor wounds.

The Pentagon said that Stone and Skarlatos are being considered for U.S. military medals, including a possible Purple Heart.

“In terms of crisis like that, I would want it to be learned that basically to do something”.

“He never said a word”, said Sadler, a student at California State University in Sacramento. According to French President Francois Hollande, a Frenchman was the first to encounter the gunman as he left the toilet, alerting others in the area.

And he was eventually able to “choke him unconscious” and Mr Skarlatos hit him in the head with one of the guns, before he was tied up with the help of Mr Norman.

Norman, speaking in French after receiving the medal, said it was less a question of heroism than survival. “So you have given us a lesson of courage, of determination and therefore of hope”. “If you’re going to die, try to do something about it”.

Khazzani was on the radar of European intelligence agencies, but gaps remain in his backstory and there have been contradictory claims from French and Spanish sources.

The prosecutor’s account of the attack on the train underscored how narrowly a disaster had been averted.

In the last six months, Khazzani has moved around Belgium, Germany, Austria, France and Andorra, David said.

“He said that when he got on the train he had no terrorism plan…in his statements, which I deem far-fetched, he said he planned to rob the passengers of their money, smash a window and then jump out”, Molins said.