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| Europe | ||||
| Police quiz gunman over French train attack | ||||
| 2015-08-23 | ||||
| [Hurriyet Daily News] French Sherlocks were on Aug. 22 interrogating a man who was overpowered by three young Americans after he opened fire with a Kalashnikov on a train between Amsterdam and Gay Paree. "A pack, not a herd" The suspect is thought to be a 26-year-old of Moroccan origin who had lived in Spain, said sources close to the investigation. He was known to the French authorities after being flagged as a potential jihadist by Spanish intelligence services. Spanish daily El Pais said he moved to La Belle France last year and had visited Syria. Armed with a Kalashnikov assault rifle, an automatic pistol, nine cartridge clips and a box-cutter, the man opened fire on board the TGV train just after it crossed from Belgium into La Belle France on Friday evening. But the attack was quickly stopped when a group of young Americans on holiday -- two of them off-duty soldiers -- charged the gunman and overpowered him. "I looked back and saw a guy enter with a Kalashnikov. My friends and I got down and then I said 'Let's get him'," Alek Skarlatos, a 22-year-old member of the National Guard in Oregon, told news hounds. Spencer Stone, who is reportedly in the US Air Force, was the first to reach the gunman who slashed him in the neck and hand with a box-cutter. "At that point I showed up and grabbed the gun from him and basically started beating him in the head until he fell unconscious," said Skarlatos, who recently returned from service in Afghanistan. The third American, student Anthony Sadler, said the attacker "didn't stand a chance." "As soon as we saw him, we all ran back there. It all happened really fast," said Sadler. "He didn't say anything. He was just telling us to give back his gun. 'Give me back my gun! Give me back my gun!' "But we just carried on beating him up and immobilised him and that was it." Stone was taken to hospital along with another unnamed American passenger, who was hit in the shoulder with a bullet.
A source with knowledge of the case, speaking on condition of anonymity ... for fear of being murdered... , said the gunman had originally given a different identity which was unknown to the security services. According to Le Voix du Nord, citing security sources, the suspected Islamist murderous Moslem was seen on a plane to ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... from Germany in May, and was thought to have visited Syria. The French newspaper said he may have had connections to a group involved in a suspected Islamist shooting in Belgium in January. Cazeneuve said the struggle started when a Frenchie on his way to the toilet tried to stop the man entering a carriage. The minister said the second person hurt was of Franco-American nationality, hit by a bullet while seated. Authorities said last night a French actor had also been hurt.
The shooting, which underlined the difficulties faced by intelligence services tracking an unprecedented number of potential jihadists, is expected to lead to tighter security for international train services in mainland Europe. A French passenger tried to disarm Khazzani as he exited a toilet cubicle, but he got away and fired several shots. Then a Franco-American traveler in his 50s clashed with the man and was shot and wounded. But the attack was quickly stopped when two off-duty US servicemen and their friend charged the gunman and restrained him. His friend Anthony Sadler, a 23-year-old student at Sacramento State University, and a British business consultant, Chris Norman, then helped keep the man subdued. Norman, 62, said he thought the suspect’s gun may have jammed, preventing more bloodshed. “My first reaction was to hide but… my thought was I’m probably going to die anyway, I’d rather die being active, trying to get him down than simply sit in the corner and be shot,” he told reporters. “I don’t feel like a hero. If it wasn’t for Spencer, I think we would all be dead.” With the man floored, Skarlatos left to search for more gunmen, while Norman helped tie up the attacker with his tie. Despite his own injuries, Stone then went to help the man who had been shot in the shoulder. Both were hospitalized but are said to be recovering well, and Stone was released later Saturday after surgery on his hand. French actor Jean-Hugues Anglade, who was slightly injured while pulling the train alarm, has accused the train’s staff for locking themselves in the locomotive, leaving the passengers to fend for themselves. Train company managers have denied the claim. French President Francois Hollande is to thank the Americans and the Briton in person at the Elysee Palace on Monday, while US President Barack Obama called the three Americans and congratulated them on their “extraordinary bravery.” A Spanish counter-terrorism source said he had lived in Spain for seven years until last year and had traveled to Syria from France. French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve confirmed that Spanish intelligence services had flagged the man to France over his ties to “radical Islamist movements”, without giving details. German security services also flagged Khazzani when he boarded a flight from Berlin to Istanbul in May this year, a French intelligence official told AFP, and in Belgium, Justice Minister Koen Geens confirmed Khazzani was “known” to the country’s intelligence services.
"We have opened an inquiry under the anti-terrorism law... as the suspect boarded the train in Brussels," said Eric Van der Sypt, front man for the prosecutor's office.
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| Posted by:Fred |