A US solider who foiled a terrorist attack on a French-bound train was knifed in the neck while disarming the crazed gunman.
Spencer Stone, who is part of the U.S. Air Force, spotted the 26-year-old Moroccan acting suspiciously and heard him trying to arm his weapon in the toilet of the high speed train between Amsterdam and Paris.
He was travelling with Oregon National Guard member Alek Skarlatos, 22, who was on leave travelling through Europe at the time after returning from Afghanistan.
With the help of Anthony Sadler, from Pittsburg, California, and British IT consultant Chris Norman, they managed to wrestle the attacker to the ground, stopping what could have been a deadly terrorist attack.
The 26-year-old Moroccan national, who was known to security services, got on the train in Brussels and attempted his attack soon after crossing the French border.
He came out of the toilet brandishing the gun and opened fire, wounding two people on board. Fortunately, the hero passengers were nearby and overpowered him.
The terrorist, named in reports as Ayoub el-Qahzzani, had at least nine full magazines of ammunition holding almost 300 rounds.
These are the dramatic scenes as two U.S. Marines wrestled with a crazed gunman on board a French train on Friday afternoon
The suspected gunman, a 26-year-old Moroccan was held on the platform of the station in Arras in France for police to arrive
Anthony Sadler, from Pittsburg, California, Aleck Sharlatos from Roseburg, Oregon, and Chris Norman, a British man living in France thwarted the attacker while on the train. They are pictured with medals they received for bravery
French police sealed off the train after the gunman was arrested after he was disarmed by the Marines after he began shooting
French police recovered at least nine full magazines of ammunition from the suspect's backpack, containing almost 300 rounds
Skarlatos described Stone's heroic actions to ITV News in the aftermath of the attack.
'Spencer ran a good ten metres to get to the guy and we didn't that his gun not working or anything like that,' he said. '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 that he was in 'good spirits' in hospital, but was still shocked by what unfolded.
Pentagon spokesman Commander William Urban said: 'We are aware of the reports and can only confirm that one military member was injured in the incident.'
US President Barack Obama praised the 'courage and quick thinking' of the men.
Maj. Stephen Bomar, an Oregon Military Departments spokesman confirmed Friday evening that one of the Americans is a member of the Oregon National Guard's 41st Infantry Brigade Combat team but declined to name him.
However Skarlatos was identified by his stepmother.
Bomar told The Oregonian: 'It's fantastic that no matter who it was, someone stepped up to stop such a horrific event. We're absolutely proud that it happened to be someone from the Oregon Army National Guard.
El Pais claimed that the terror suspect had recently been in Syria before returning to Europe to launch his attack.
It is understood that the gunman boarded the train, which had more than 550 passengers on board, in Brussels and made his move as soon as it crossed into France.
(The Americans were) particularly courageous and showed extreme bravery in extremely difficult circumstances
French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve
French media claim that the suspect was previously known to French security services and was living in Spain. He has already been linked to a number of radical Islamic groups. He was classed, according to FranceInfo.fr as 'potentially dangerous'.
Speaking in Arras, French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve praised the Marines for their timely intervention.
He said: 'Thanks to them we have averted a drama.
'(The Americans were) particularly courageous and showed extreme bravery in extremely difficult circumstances.'
The man was arrested by police near the town of Arras in northern France.
Belgian journalist Marin Buxant Tweeted that the US Marines were on leave in Brussels when they spotted the man and followed him on the train. When the suspect went into the toilet, the Marines recognised the sound of a weapon being armed and decided to act immediately.
One of the gunman's victims was rushed to hospital after the train arrived in Arras, in northern France after the attempted massacre
French officials have so far refused to confirm whether the attack was a terror related incident claiming it is 'too early' in the investigation
Train company Thalys confirmed the incident happened. A spokesman said: 'The situation is under control, the travellers are safe. The train stopped and the emergency services are on site.'
No one at the SNCF French railways was immediately available to comment on the report.
A report on Twitter said that two US Marines detained the gunman until emergency services arrived.
The incident happened at approximately 6pm local time.
The motives behind the attack were not immediately known, although a spokesman for the interior minister said: 'It is too early to speak of a terrorist link'.
The incident happened approximately 115 miles north of Paris near the town of Arras.
Engineer Laurent Duquesne said he followed a woman who was looking for help with her husband when he saw the carnage.
He told The Telegraph: 'I went into the compartment and saw a man with what seemed to be a bullet wound in the neck, with another man trying to staunch the bleeding. he himself was wounded in the hand, possibly with a knife. They had tied up the gunmen and he was lying face down on the floor of the compartment with his hands tied behind his back.'
A forensic specialist examines the scene of the incident which happened about 115 miles north of Paris outside the town of Arras
Three people were injured, two of them seriously, after the gunman opened fire on Friday afternoon on the Amsterdam-Paris train
French police said that the suspect was a 26-year-old Moroccan national and was known to security services
French authorities are currently investigating the motive behind today's shooting which left three injured
The gunman was arrested after the train pulled into the station in the northern French town of Arras, the SNCF spokesman told AFP.
French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve arrived at the scene in Arras in the wake of the incident, which occurred shortly after 6pm local time.
His spokesman Pierre-Henry Brandet confirmed to AFP that a man had opened fire on the train but said that at this stage 'we do not know his motives'.
France has been an a state of high alert since the Charlie Hebdo massacre in January 2015 in Paris
The French actor Jean-Hugues Anglade, who appeared in the 1986 cult film 'Betty Blue' staring Beatrice Dalle, was lightly injured. It is understood he cut his hand while breaking the glass on the emergency alarm.
Anglade also played the hard-nosed cop Eddy Caplan in the gritty French crime drama Braquo.
Thalys said on its website that several trains had been delayed after the 'intervention of security forces at Arras station'.
'The train is at the station and emergency services are at the scene,' said Thalys, which is jointly owned by the national rail companies of Belgium, France and Germany.
France remains on edge after Islamic extremists attacked the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo and a Jewish supermarket in Paris in January.
In June, a man beheaded his boss and tried to blow up a gas plant in southern France in what prosecutors say was an attack inspired by ISIS.
French anti-terror police are leading the investigation into the 26-year-old gunman who boarded the train in Brussels
The British Foreign Office said it was in contact with French authorities but confirmed no Britons were hurt during the incident
A Foreign Office spokeswoman said: 'We are aware of reports of shots being fired on a train in France.
'We are aware of reports that shots were fired on a train in France earlier today. The French authorities have responded. There are no reports that British nationals have been injured.'
Interior ministry spokesman Pierre Henry Brandet said: ‘A man opened fire on this Thalys train between Amsterdam and Paris, one person was very seriously injured. Talking about a terrorist motive would be premature at the moment.’
Francois Hollande, the French president, has said: ‘I express my solidarity with the wounded from the attack on the train from Amsterdam to Paris. Everything is being done to shed light on this tragedy.’
French President Francois Hollande said he wanted to express solidarity with those injured in Fiday's attack
The French interior ministry said that it was far too early in the investigation to talk about a potential motive
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