France train shooting: Three hurt and man arrested

RichardCeann

An armed man has injured three people on a train between Amsterdam and Paris before being overpowered by two American passengers, officials say.
The incident happened on the high-speed Thalys service near Arras, and the attacker was arrested at Arras station.
Two of the victims, said to be an American and a Briton, were seriously injured, reports said.
The man arrested was a 26-year-old Moroccan. Anti-terrorist officers have taken over the case.
The weapons were said to include a Kalashnikov, a knife, an automatic pistol and cartridges.
One of the two people seriously hurt had a gunshot wound, the other a knife wound.

French media said the men who overpowered the suspect were US Marines.
The UK Foreign Office said it was aware of the reports of shots being fired and that was in touch with French authorities, urgently seeking information.
Images shared on social media appeared to show a man being restrained on the station platform in Arras.
"The situation is under control, the travellers are safe. The train stopped and the emergency services are on site," the Thalys official Twitter account tweeted.
Thalys said several trains had been delayed in the wake of the attack.
France has been on edge since the attack on the Charlie Hebdo magazine and a Jewish supermarket in Paris in January, which left 17 people dead.
And in June a man said to be inspired by the Islamic State group beheaded his boss and tried to blow up a gas plant in southern France.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-34023361

French TV is saying that railway staff thought the suspects behaviour was suspicious and were getting worried when he locked himself in the bathroom so requested help. Luckily the US marines were there. Chilling stuff. The French could have another massacre on their hands if it were not for the on the ball railway workers and the two marines.

HardenendMan

Jaysus fierce lucky to have them marines on boards. Brave fcukers!

conorhal

Chilling stuff alright. But great to see the passengers decided they were taking no $h1t from another bloody terrorist and kicked his ass.

Proper proud of those who tackled the guy.

Ayls

I think it was more than luck that they happened to be there, he was a well known suspect.

DeadHand

Ayls wrote: »

I think it was more than luck that they happened to be there, he was a well known suspect.

US marines are not deployed by the French intelligence services.

It was dumb luck.

kneemos

OORAH!

Ayls

DeadHand wrote: »

US marines are not deployed by the French intelligence services.

It was dumb luck.

I know that.

I don't believe it was dumb luck. You may do.

strelok

Ayls wrote: »

I know that.

I don't believe it was dumb luck. You may do.

jet fuel doesn't melt french rail carriages

Jan Laco

I know police will let drug deals go down so they can arrest more than the guy carrying......They hardly let the guy go to bathroom and arm himself first before making the arrest. It was luck.

RichardCeann

He had nine mags on him. Thank fcuk the two lads were there. Otherwise, welp.

wendell borton

Plenty more to replace him off the boat.:rolleyes:

DeadHand

Ayls wrote: »

I know that.

I don't believe it was dumb luck. You may do.

So, the marines were there is on whose orders?

Wacker The Attacker

So they should bomb France?

Remorqueur

Ayls wrote: »

I think it was more than luck that they happened to be there, he was a well known suspect.

So unarmed marines were sent to follow a shooter on a train?

DeadHand

wendell borton wrote: »

Plenty more to replace him off the boat.:rolleyes:

True, sadly.

Far from the propaganda images we are presented by those with an agenda of the illegals currently availing of the European ferry service in the Med being poor wretches fleeing ISIS the fact is only a tiny proportion actually are and the majority are, in fact, prime candidates for ISIS recruitment being young, male, uneducated, unemployable and Sunni Muslim.

This mass of potentials alongside the actual agents that ISIS has stated it would embed among the mass of illegal migrants.

What it all means is that attacks like this will occur with greater regularity into the future and off duty marines will not always be there to prevent yet another massacre of European innocents for the glory of Islam.

Arsemageddon

RichardCeann wrote: »

He had nine mags on him.

Well Amsterdam to Paris is a long journey - you'd need a good bit of reading material.

ceadaoin.

The report I read said that the marines stopped the guy after hearing the sound of a weapon being loaded in the toilet. That's amazing. there would have been multiple casualties if they weren't around and on the ball.

Mena

Arsemageddon wrote: »

Well Amsterdam to Paris is a long journey - you'd need a good bit of reading material.

It's 3 hours,..

Remorqueur

Mena wrote: »

It's 3 hours,..

dont let facts get in the way of someone trying to be funny. Its Friday night let him have some joy in his 'life'

Jesus. If it weren't for the workers being observant and for the marines, god only knows what might have happened.

Mena

Remorqueur wrote: »

dont let facts get in the way of someone trying to be funny. Its Friday night let him have some joy in his 'life'

Ran out of beer, I'm bringing you all down with me.

Anachrony

Ayls wrote: »

I think it was more than luck that they happened to be there, he was a well known suspect.

If they were expecting a fight they would have been armed, and probably would have been able to kill him before one was wounded. They weren't there to fight.

Marines are not trained for anything remotely like trailing a terror suspect through an allied nation during peacetime. The French have tons of people better suited to that sort of work, even just an ordinary police officer would be better suited to it than a marine. And if for some bizarre conspiracy reason they wanted to outsource it to the US, the US has half a dozen agencies better suited to it as well. It's the sort of work the CIA would do, except they wouldn't be unarmed and have to resort to tackling someone firing at them with an AK-47.

Ulysses Gaze

DeadHand wrote: »

True, sadly.

Far from the propaganda images we are presented by those with an agenda of the illegals currently availing of the European ferry service in the Med being poor wretches fleeing ISIS the fact is only a tiny proportion actually are and the majority are, in fact, prime candidates for ISIS recruitment being young, male, uneducated, unemployable and Sunni Muslim.

This mass of potentials alongside the actual agents that ISIS has stated it would embed among the mass of illegal migrants.

What it all means is that attacks like this will occur with greater regularity into the future and off duty marines will not always be there to prevent yet another massacre of European innocents for the glory of Islam.

And the more this happens, the more you'll start to see Right Wing Groups like the Immortals in Germany attacking innocent Muslims and bombing Mosques in retaliation.

Arsemageddon

Remorqueur wrote: »

dont let facts get in the way of someone trying to be funny. Its Friday night let him have some joy in his 'life'

Ooooooohhh, that's me slapped down into the dirt

Manic Moran

DeadHand wrote: »

So, the marines were there is on whose orders?

They were on leave. Us American servicemen do take holidays from time to time. I took a Thalys last year on my holiday

RichardCeann

There were 550 people on the train and he had nine magazines, a handgun and a whole host of knives. That's what, around 300 rounds? Those American marines are heroes.

It's hard to imagine what kind of violence they just stopped.

http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/03415/france_018_3415379b.jpg

K4t

Sounds good but I still think the Steven Seagal movie was better.

Akrasia

Deleted User wrote: »

Jesus. If it weren't for the workers being observant and for the marines, god only knows what might have happened.

Third line of defence

Casey Ryback

I'm pretty sure that if it was discovered these troops were on active duty, then there would be a lot of questions asked by France, given that they're allies and this is peacetime.

kneemos

Does this mean metal detectors on platforms?

kneemos

kneemos wrote: »

Does this mean metal detectors on platforms?

Much more. I really am surprised that France hasn't gone into meltdown yet - this coupled with the car ramming the Tour de France, Charlie Hebdo, and all the other assaults there recently, it's only a matter of time.

old_aussie

HardenendMan wrote: »

Jaysus fierce lucky to have them marines on boards. Brave fcukers!

Land of the Free,

Home of the Brave

old_aussie

Deleted User wrote: »

Much more. I really am surprised that France hasn't gone into meltdown yet - this coupled with the car ramming the Tour de France, Charlie Hebdo, and all the other assaults there recently, it's only a matter of time.

Won't be long

conorh91

DeadHand wrote: »

Far from the propaganda images we are presented by those with an agenda of the illegals currently availing of the European ferry service in the Med being poor wretches fleeing ISIS the fact is only a tiny proportion actually are and the majority are, in fact, prime candidates for ISIS recruitment being young, male, uneducated, unemployable and Sunni Muslim.

Blindly accepting these young men into Europe is one stupid idea, I agree, but sending them home in desperation is equally half-witted.

The fact is people will whinge no matter what Europe does.

We have to accept an increased level of migration, and we have to invest in these countries of origin in order to stabilise the flow of migration. I genuinely do not see how there is a place for anyone who still wishes for splendid isolation.

ceadaoin.

Deleted User wrote: »

Much more. I really am surprised that France hasn't gone into meltdown yet - this coupled with the car ramming the Tour de France, Charlie Hebdo, and all the other assaults there recently, it's only a matter of time.

I thought the Tour de France thing wasn't related to terrorism?

If all these attacks happened in America like this, I'm sure some country would be invaded by now.

unkel

RichardCeann wrote: »

There were 550 people on the train and he had nine magazines, a handgun and a whole host of knives. That's what, around 300 rounds? Those American marines are heroes.

Well said. They are heroes and I hope they will be recognised for their role in preventing this case of muslim extremist terrorism and death. All their friends and families should be very proud of them!

ceadaoin.

If the gunman had succeeded in what he set out to do we would have the usual posters blaming America for Islamic terrorism. 2 American servicemen show great courage and save possibly hundreds of lives and this thread is awful quiet.

You just know there's loads of Muslims in France that saw this and immediately thought, "please don't be muslim, please don't be muslim"

K4t

Deleted User wrote: »

You just know there's loads of Muslims in France that saw this and immediately thought, "please don't be muslim, please don't be muslim"

Well hopefully some of the acts committed recently by extremists will make non-murdering, peaceful people question religion and the one they subscribe to.

Public_Enema

DeadHand wrote: »

True, sadly.

Far from the propaganda images we are presented by those with an agenda of the illegals currently availing of the European ferry service in the Med being poor wretches fleeing ISIS the fact is only a tiny proportion actually are and the majority are, in fact, prime candidates for ISIS recruitment being young, male, uneducated, unemployable and Sunni Muslim.

This mass of potentials alongside the actual agents that ISIS has stated it would embed among the mass of illegal migrants.

What it all means is that attacks like this will occur with greater regularity into the future and off duty marines will not always be there to prevent yet another massacre of European innocents for the glory of Islam.

Feck, I nearly passed out from sheer hysteria after reading that post.

Old Jakey

This is why civilians should be allowed carry guns. A Muslim tries to kill wage Jihad? Well sorry Ahmed, we're one step Ahead. Bang! you're dead mother****er!

Believe it or not the French TV news has been very subdued on this topic tonight. It is news, but it's not a national preoccupation.

The Brits seem to be infested with it, like lice.

A Primal Nut

Three American heroes, including two marines, saved the day, preventing a potential massacre

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-34023361

Very lucky that they were onboard. The incident could have been a lot worse.

Smartguy

God bless Americaa

inforfun

The 3 heroes

(site is in Dutch but video is english)

Considering this happened in Arras, the **** boarded the train in either Amsterdam-Central, Schiphol, Rotterdam-Central, Antwerpen-Central of Brussels-South/Midi.

And there are living thousands like him in Holland and Belgium

A Primal Nut

Public_Enema wrote: »

Feck, I nearly passed out from sheer hysteria after reading that post.

It's hardly hysteria given attacks like this are happening in France all the time now, and usually they are members of France's immigrant community, turning on the country that helped them escape poverty/war/etc.

Vomit

According to CNN they were a National Guard member and an Air Force member, not marines.

kneemos

Vomit wrote: »

According to CNN they were a National Guard member and an Air Force member, not marines.

Yer mans AK was jammed apparently.

myshirt

Well done to those men, really takes balls. This f#cker comes in loaded to the gills, an AK47 aswell, 99% of kids their age would just look at their shoes if asked to volunteer at say something like even a lecture. They done very well. I'm worried we are becoming very desensitised to these types of things, I don't know if anyone here has felt or thought about an AK47 right in their face. F%ck.

Boring username

Deleted User wrote: »

If all these attacks happened in America like this, I'm sure some country would be invaded by now.

Yeah, like when the US invaded Chechnya after the Boston bombings..... :rolleyes:

Regarding the train attacks, France was very, very lucky here. I don't think people appreciate just how hard it would have been to stop a speeding train quickly, mobilise counter terrorism resources, get them to a remote location, and then attack the train. Realistically, had the servicemen not been on board, the death toll would likely have exceeded 200 people.

I expect the brave servicemen will be awarded the Legion of Honour medal in the near future.