Speaking for the first time Sunday, one of the three Americans who overpowered a heavily armed gunman on a high-speed train traveling between Amsterdam and Paris said he thought of his survival, as well as that of everyone else on train, when he tackled the gunman.
Spencer Stone, who was injured in the attack, and fellow Americans Alek Skarlatos and Anthony Sadler spoke to the press from the U.S. Embassy in Paris, describing the rough and tumble takedown of the suspect Friday.
Stone said he awoke from a nap to see a man struggling with an assault rifle. It “looked like it was jammed and not working,” he recounted.
After charging the gunman, the three Americans fought with the man until Stone was able to choke him unconscious.
Stone said he thought about “survival, to survive and for everyone on the train to make it.”
‘Ready to fight’
In talking about the suspect, a 26-year-old radical Islamist identified by officials as Ayoub El-Khazzani, Stone said, “He seemed ready to fight to the end and so were we.”
All three men said the event seemed “unreal.”
Stone said what happened Friday hasn’t really sunk in yet. “It feels very unreal, feels like a dream.”
French President Francois Hollande thanked U.S. President Barack Obama by telephone Saturday for the “exemplary” actions of U.S. servicemen Skarletos and Stone, saying they stopped what would have been “an extremely serious attack.”
Hollande said he plans to meet personally in “the coming days” with all of those involved in overcoming the would-be attacker.
Skarletos, Stone and American student Sadler were joined by Briton Chris Norman in subduing the Moroccan-born gunman, who seriously wounded at least one passenger before he was swarmed.
Injured in attack
U.S. Air Force Airman Stone was hospitalized with serious injuries, after being slashed in the neck and hand by the attacker with a box cutter.
Stone wore a sling on his left arm during the news conference and said he would receive further medical care in Germany.
The White House said Obama spoke Saturday by phone with Stone to wish him a speedy recovery and to extend the gratitude of all Americans for his “extraordinary bravery” aboard the train.
Spanish authorities identified the suspect, Khazzani, who spent time in Syria during the past year. He boarded the train in Brussels shortly before the attack Friday.
Authorities in France can hold him for questioning for four days without being charged. His lawyer maintains that Khazzani is “dumbfounded” by the terrorism allegations and only intended to rob passengers.
Attack
Briton Chris Norman, who lives in France, said the gunman walked into his railway car carrying a Kalashnikov assault rifle, a handgun and a box-cutter knife.
Norman, a grandfather who works on financing for African business projects, spoke Saturday to reporters in Arras, France, where the train stopped after the attack. He said his first instinct was to duck for cover when the gunman began shouting at the train passengers.
“Then I heard one of the Americans shout ‘Go get him!’ and the other said something like, ‘Don’t you do that, buddy!’ and they charged him,” Norman said.
Skarletos said, “Spencer ran a good 10 meters to get to the guy and we didn’t know his gun wasn’t working or anything like that.
“Spencer just ran anyway. And if anybody would have gotten shot, it would have been Spencer for sure. And we’re very lucky that nobody got killed, especially Spencer,” he added.
In reconstructing the faceoff, authorities found the gunman had already shot one person in an adjacent car before entering the compartment where Norman and the Americans were seated.
When the Americans charged, Norman recalled thinking “I’m probably going to die anyway, so let’s go.”
He said he decided to “try to act as a team” with the two American servicemen and the student.
‘Quite a battle’
He said the attacker “put up quite a battle.”
“I helped hold his arms,” Norman said, and the Americans hog-tied the Moroccan – tying his wrists behind his back and lashing them to his ankles, using the Briton’s necktie.
French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve applauded the quick action, saying it likely averted a bloodbath.
“Without their courage, we would have surely faced a terrible tragedy,” Cazeneuve said. French authorities have been on high alert since Islamic militants killed 17 people in and around Paris in January.
Sadler, the American student who helped rush the attacker, is a friend of the two U.S. servicemen.
“I’m just a college student, it’s my last year in college,” he said. “I came to see my friends on my first trip in Europe and we stopped a terrorist. It’s kind of crazy!”
The attack took place Friday, as the train sped through Belgium with 554 people on board. After the incident, the train was diverted to Arras in northern France.
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