US Military Personnel Stop Shooter on Train

3 people are injured in apparent terrorist attack in France
By Michael Harthorne,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 21, 2015 4:32 PM CDT
US Military Personnel Stop Shooter on Train
A police officer works on a platform near a train at the station in Arras after a gunman opened fire injuring three passengers Aug. 21, 2015.    (AP Photo)

Off-duty US military personnel subdued a gunman aboard a high-speed French train, stopping what some are calling a terrorist attack that could have been much worse, CBS News reports. Current reports are conflicting about whether two or three American servicemen—rumored but unconfirmed to be Marines—were involved in the incident. Fox News reports a 26-year-old Moroccan man unidentified but "known to intelligence services" opened fire as the train from Amsterdam to Paris was passing through Belgium. Three people were shot—two seriously injured—before the US servicemen could subdue the shooter. According to CBS, the suspect was armed with an automatic rifle and knife.

A French official said the US servicemen were "particularly courageous and showed great bravery," CBS reports. He said he feared the damage would have been much greater if they hadn't acted. The Belgian prime minister called the incident a "terrorist attack." The train stopped in a French town 115 miles north of Paris, and the suspect was arrested, according to Fox. "The situation is under control," the company that operates the high-speed train tweeted following the attack. The CBC reports one of the servicemen was also one of the three people injured, though that is still unclear. The motive of the shooter is currently unknown. (More shooting stories.)

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