General / Off-Topic Americans in France

Surfinjo

Surfinjo
Apologies if this annoys those who only want ED topics on here, but someone has to bring this up.

These guys are, by any measure, heros. They saved, potentially, dozens.
Three American men are being hailed as heroes for overpowering a heavily-armed gunman on a train in northern France.

The incident happened on the high-speed Thalys service near Arras. A 26-year-old Moroccan man was arrested at Arras station.

One of the Americans said they took an AK-47 assault rifle and a handgun from the attacker as they saw him walk down the aisle of the train.

They then put him in a chokehold until he was unconscious.

Two of the American men who overpowered the gunman, Spencer Stone and Alek Skarlatos, are members of the Air Force and the National Guard respectively.

They were travelling on the train from Amsterdam to Paris on Friday evening with a childhood friend, Anthony Sadler, who also helped restrain the attacker.

"Spencer got to the guy first and grabbed the guy by the neck," Mr Skarlatos told Sky News.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-34023361


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HailVectron

HailVectron
Agreed. Actually, from what I understood from the footage this morning, Spencer, who tackled the guy, is not in that photo, he was injured, and is receiving treatment. Also, while he was injured, he also saved a passengers life, who was bleeding out from a neck wound!
 

Surfinjo

Surfinjo
X-Terminator said:
I believe there is a hero in all of us. Would it really take more guts to do nothing in this scenario.
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Dam straight. And the only way to deal with these scum is to be ready to stand up to them. Bullies hate that.

OK, so we might get killed. But this bully scum had a big gun and was intent upon killing a these guys anyway.
 

ianw

I
Yes - have to say it's a lot better reading that the gunman got stopped rather than reading about a train full of bloody carnage.
 

FatzDomingo

F
Unarmed American Servicemen and a few civilians kick the living daylights out of an armed terrorist. No-one gets killed;not even the scummy terrorist scumbag! Excellent result
 
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Gully Foyle

Gully Foyle
Great story, thanks for posting. Stories like this make my day.
No apologies necessary, you posted in the off-topic. All Correct.
 

Gédéon_Lecanard

Gédéon_Lecanard
They were beyond heroic. So many people were saved thanks to their actions. I feel nothing but deep gratitude and admiration for them. The sad part is that it also reminds us that such a carnage is definitely possible, and that us, civilians, are way too easy as targets. Sadly, not all people victims of those fanatics were lucky enough to have those guys with them.

Again, infinite thanks to them.
 

beelbeebub

beelbeebub
On one of the early BBC articles, just under the report and picture of the people who tackled the gun man and, in one case, sustained serious knife injuries, was a picture of a French actor on board the train who, the caption informed us "cut his hand activating the emergency alarm".
:
Whilst there is nothing funny about these events there was a certain darkly comic aspect the juxtaposition of these two reports.
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Hats off to the guys who tackled the gun man, the word "hero" is bandied around too readily these days, but in this case it rightly applies.
 

Patrick_68000

Patrick_68000
Bernard Cazeneuve, Minister of Interior : "A French traveler wanting to reach the toilet of the car 12 was in front of an individual armed with an assault rifle kalashnikov over the shoulder . He intervened the first one, to gain control the aggressor (...) He tried bravely to control him before the aggressor pulls several shots." ---- This Frenchman, is also a hero

;)
 
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Patrick_68000

Patrick_68000
beelbeebub said:
On one of the early BBC articles, just under the report and picture of the people who tackled the gun man and, in one case, sustained serious knife injuries, was a picture of a French actor on board the train who, the caption informed us "cut his hand activating the emergency alarm"
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He cut himself profoundly, up to the bone, it seems

;)
 
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ianw

I
To be honest I'd tip my hat to anyone there - apart from the toerag with the gun.

No-one knows how they will react in a full on life or death situation until they're in it - and by that point it's a bit late to think up a last minute action plan...
 

Patrick_68000

Patrick_68000
Patrick_68000 said:
Bernard Cazeneuve, Minister of Interior : "A French traveler wanting to reach the toilet of the car 12 was in front of an individual armed with an assault rifle kalashnikov over the shoulder . He intervened the first one, to gain control the aggressor (...) He tried bravely to control him before the aggressor pulls several shots." ---- This Frenchman, is also a hero

;)
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Patrick_68000 said:
He cut himself profoundly, up to the bone, it seems

;)
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No ! It's not the chauvinism !

:p
 
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