FacebookTwo US servicemen and a British IT worker tackled a Moroccan terrorist to the ground and disarmed him after he opened fire on a train en-route to Paris.
Spencer Stone, who is part of the U.S. Air Force, and Oregon National Guard member Alek Skarlatos spotted the 26-year-old Moroccan acting suspiciously on the high speed train from Amsterdam.
After Stone heard the man trying to load his weapon in the toilet, the two servicemen, with help from friend Anthony Sadler and British IT consultant Chris Norman, wrestled the attacker to the ground and beat him unconscious, stopping a potentially deadly terrorist attack.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuLNBYtIdEY
Video footage has emerged of the dramatic aftermath of the incident, which appears to show the gunman lying on the floor with his hands and feet tied up with t-shirts after he was stopped.
The man in question had reportedly been under French surveillance for some time after foreign security services identified him as dangerous.
According to witnesses, the man came out of the toilet brandishing a short-stocked Kalashnikov assault rifle (AK-47) and opened fire, wounding two people on board before the heroic passengers were able to stop him.
ReutersU.S. President Barack Obama has since hailed the “courage and quick thinking” of the two men.
The man himself denies being a terrorist, according to reports from French media site BFMTV, instead claiming he planned to carry out an armed robbery and ransom train passengers.
Whatever the truth of his motives, let’s just be glad that these brave servicemen and heroic passengers were nearby and able to stop him from hurting more people!
