France honors 3 Americans, Briton for stopping train attack
Updated 8:46 AM ET, Mon August 24, 2015
(CNN)They grew up together, fought off
an attacker together and accepted a nation's honor together.
Three days after they pounced and subdued a gunman aboard a packed train, American childhood friends Anthony Sadler, Spencer Stone and Alek Skarlatos got the Legion of Honor --
Fellow British passenger Chris Norman, who helped
tackle the gunman, also received the award during Monday's ceremony at the Élysée Palace
"By their courage, they saved lives,"
President François Hollande said. "They gave us an example of what is
possible to do in these kinds of situations."
The four stopped a potential massacre Friday aboard
the high-speed train headed from Amsterdam , Netherlands , to Paris .
"Three Americans and one Englishman ... you
risked your lives to defend an ideal, the ideal of liberty and freedom,"
Hollande said.
Another passenger -- a French national who has not
gone public -- also confronted the gunman and will be honored at a later date.
Napoleon Bonaparte established the Legion of Honor in
1802 to recognize exceptional leaders and unusual achievements.'He never said a word'
'He never said a word'
The four were in the same train car when gunfire
erupted. Shortly afterward, a shirtless man appeared with a gun slung over his
shoulder.
"He never said a word," said Sadler, a
student at California State University
in Sacramento .
"At that time, it was either do something or die."
They charged at the gunman, and a fierce struggle
ensued.
"He kept pulling more weapons left and
right," Stone said, his arm in a sling from injuries suffered in the
struggle. "He seemed like he was ready to fight to the end. So were
we."
They punched the suspect, choked him and hit him with
his own weapons. They finally restrained him before the train pulled up in Arras in northern France .
The confrontation left Stone, a U.S. Air Force member
who tackled the attacker first, with wounds in the head, hand and neck. He was
hospitalized and released.
"It is clear that their heroic actions may have
prevented a far worse tragedy," President Barack Obama said.
Inspired to act
"I am happy that no one got hurt," he said.
"Spence and Alek are the two guys who we should really thank the most
because they were the first ones who actually got up and did it."
When they took action, Norman jumped in as well.
"That gave me the impetus to get up and do
it," he said. "They galvanized me to go."
Witness: I was not ready to die
"The thoughts that were running through my mind
were, ' I'm I going to die ... I'm not ready to die,' " she told CNN's
"New Day" amid tears. "I have so much more to do with my life.
I'm only 28 years old."
She said she owed her life to the passengers who
tackled the gunman.
"I'm incredibly grateful to those men. ... They
are fantastic human beings," she said. "Thank you so much from the
bottom of my heart."
Report: Suspect says he intended to rob train
The alleged gunman, identified as Moroccan national
Ayoub El Khazzani, said he only intended to conduct a robbery, not a terror
act, his attorney Sophie David told CNN affiliate BFMTV.
David said her client told her he found the firearms
in a public garden next to a train station in Brussels , Belgium
But authorities said with the kind of firepower he
had, it appears he was planning a massacre.
He had an AK-47 assault weapon with nine magazines of
ammunition, a Luger pistol with extra ammo and a box cutter, French Interior
Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said.
"The guy had a lot of ammo," said
Skarlatos, a National Guardsman based in Oregon .
"His intentions were pretty clear."
Spain , France aware of
suspect
Spanish officials said the suspect's family moved to Spain from Morocco in 2007.
He was linked to investigations into radical Islamist
networks, a senior European counterterrorism official said. His DNA was on file
with Spanish authorities, French media reported.
There are indications he traveled to Turkey between May and July, probably to try to
join up with ISIS in Syria ,
a senior European counterterrorism official told CNN terror analyst Paul
Cruickshank.
ISIS operatives are using Turkey
as a base to redirect European extremists trying to travel to Syria to launch
attacks back home, according to Cruickshank.
Link to ISIS fighters?
Investigators have yet to make a final determination
on El Khazzani's travel. He was likely linked to ISIS fighters in Turkey ,
according to the counterterrorism official
It's unclear whether he made it to Syria or what
he did to attract the attention of Spanish authorities. Spanish police alerted France he was
preparing to travel to the latter country last year, Cazeneuve said
Beyond that, there appears to be a disagreement
between French and Spanish sources about who knew what and when.
The suspect is in custody undergoing interrogation.
New York Daily Mail
'He seemed
like he was ready to fight to the end ... So were we': American heroes in France
Sunday, August 23, 2015, 1:17 PM
From right, Alek
Skarlatos, Anthony Sadler and Spencer Stone conduct a press conference, along
with with U.S. Ambassador to France Jane Hartley (l.), about the men's
heroics on the European train.
Off-duty U.S. Air Force member Spencer Stone recalled Sunday the harrowing
moments when he and his two best friends pummeled the would-be killer, fighting
for their lives.
Stone said he had just woken up from a deep sleep when he saw the shooter, identified as Ayoub El-Khazzani, brandishing an AK-47. Stone's friend, National Guardsman Alek Skarlatos, said they had to act.
"Alek just hit me on the shoulder and said, 'Let's go,'" Stone recalled in a
"I put him in a chokehold. It seemed like he kept pulling more weapons left and right," Stone added.
The shooter, who never spoke, pulled out a box cutter and stabbed Stone in the hand and neck.
During the brief confrontation, a French-American passenger was wounded by a bullet.
That's when Skarlatos began bashing the shooter with the butt of his own rifle. The third member of Skarlatos' group, college student Anthony Sadler, punched the Moroccan national in the head as Stone choked him unconscious.
Stone had only had one thing on his mind: "Survival. For myself and for my friends and for everyone else on the train."
British businessman Chris Norman joined the scrum.
"So were we."
It could have been much worse.
Skarlatos said El-Khazzani didn't know how to use his weapon.
"He clearly had no firearms training whatsoever," Skarlatos said of the 26-year-old reportedly known to Spanish anti-terrorism officials.
"If he'd had more training … we probably wouldn't be here today."
After El-Khazzani was subdued, the men began helping wounded passengers. Stone stuck his finger in a wounded passenger's neck, pinching an artery.
"In the beginning it was mostly gut instinct, survival," Skarlatos said. "Our training kicked in after the struggle."
Sadler said the experience taught him that one must act when confronted with extreme crisis.
"Do something. Hiding or sitting back is not going to accomplish anything," Sadler said.
The intense confrontation still hadn't sunk in for the three Americans.
"It feels very unreal. Feels like a dream," Stone said.
U.S. Ambassador Jane Hartley echoed President Obama's praise of the men.
"We often use the word 'hero' and in this case I know that word has never been more appropriate," Hartley said. "They are truly heroes. When most of us would run away, Spencer, Alek and Anthony ran into the line of fire, saying, 'Let's go.' Those words changed the fate of many."
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