Bomar said the guardsman had recently returned from deployment and was visiting Europe on personal leave.
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The motives behind Friday’s attack were not immediately known, although French prosecutors said a probe was being launched by counterterrorism investigators.
The French prosecutor’s office said that its anti-terrorist section has taken over the case, “in view of the weaponry used, the way it happened and the context”.
It was unknown if the Americans were civilians or military personnel, Cazeneuve said. Officials said the suspect had several weapons and a lot of ammunition and the Marines actions prevented a massacre. “He was stopped by passengers”.
Train operator Thalys said that travellers were safe and the situation was under control. AFP cited French officials saying the suspect is “known to intelligence services”.
Local police “are not ruling out the possibility of a planned terror attack”, CBS reports.
French newspaper Le Monde is reporting that one Briton may be among the injured. He suffered a light hand injury, Blondeau said. The CBC reports one of the servicemen was also one of the three people injured, though that is still unclear.
In a separate statement, French presidency said Hollande and Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel vowed to step up security cooperation and consolidate efforts to facilitate the investigation into the shooting.
French media reported that the Marines overpowered the man.
“The French authorities have responded”.
France’s interior ministry confirmed Friday that three people were injured aboard the high-speed train.
Cazeneuve said the two Americans “were particularly courageous and showed great bravery in very hard circumstances” and that “without their sangfroid we could have been confronted with a awful drama”.
Passengers spoke of hearing gunshots as the train was traveling through the countryside, and of seeing bloodied individuals rolling out into the grass when the train lurched to a stop during the shooting.
“I saw the man who was shot in the neck stumble”, she recalled in an interview with NBC News over Facebook.
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France has remained on high-alert since Islamic extremists stormed the satirical French magazine Charlie Hebdo’s office and a Jewish supermarket in January.
