U.S. Marines stopped a gunman when he attempted to open fire on a train in France on Friday.
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Unfortunately one of the Marines was shot during the attack and is reportedly in critical condition. France’s Voix du Nord, a regional newspaper, said the two passengers were U.S. Marines.
The servicemen – possibly attached to a US embassy – listened as they heard the automatic assault rifle being breeched in the toilet of the packed train.
French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve applauded the heroic and courageous actions taken by the U.S. Marines, saying, “Thanks to them we have averted a drama”. After they confronted the suspect, a wild melee broke out on the train and passengers finally helped subdue him. There were a few seconds of face-to-face combat between the two men, and the passenger jumped on him and tackled him to the ground. I could never do that. He said the facts were not in yet but said the passengers were “very lucky” the soldiers were aboard the train.
Anti-terror police have launched an investigation.
Journalist, Martin Buxant, reported via Twitter that the off duty U.S. Marines noticed the suspected terrorist as soon as he boarded the train in Brussels, and kept him in their sights until the train crossed into France. A ministry spokesman said the attacker’s motives were not known.
“That guy, he had balls.”
A suspected gunman is in the custody of French police following a shooting incident on a train that was thwarted by two U.S. Marines. Anglade reportedly was hurt breaking the glass to activate the train’s alarm.
Francois Hollande, the French president, said: “I express my solidarity with the wounded from the attack on the train from Amsterdam to Paris”.
The high-speed train was headed from Amsterdam for Paris.
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France has been on high alert since January, after Islamic fundamentalists attacked the Parisian satire magazine Charlie Hebdo office and then moved to a Jewish supermarket nearby, in what officials called an act of terrorism.
