French Officials Responding to Incident Aboard Train

Train personnel stand next to Thalys trains at the main train station in Arras, northern France, following the shooting.

The suspect was arrested after the train stopped in Arras, 185 kilometres north of Paris, Interior Ministry spokesperson Pierre-Henri Brandet said on French television BFM.

The third victim was the French actor Jean-Hugues Anglade, who pulled the train’s alarm and was not seriously wounded, according to the Telegraph.

The spokesman had said earlier that three people were injured, two of them seriously, and that at least one suffered gunshot wounds. Three U.S. Marines were on board the train and overpowered the man, French media said.

No one at the SNCF French railways was immediately available to comment on the report. He was armed with a Kalashnikov and several knives, according to AFP.

France’s interior minister, Bernard Cazeneuve, was reportedly en route to the scene.

“The motives behind the attack are still unknown”, Brandet said in a televised statement.

Le Monde said the man also had an automatic pistol and had so far refused to talk to police in Arras.

Train operator Thalys said that travellers were safe and the situation was under control.