UPDATE: Aug. 21, 2015, 4:14 PM EDT
PARIS (AP) — A gunman opened fire with an automatic weapon on a high-speed train traveling from Amsterdam to Paris Friday, wounding three people, two of them critically, officials said.
The suspect was arrested after the train stopped in Arras, 115 miles (185 kilometers north of Paris, Interior Ministry spokesman Pierre-Henri Brandet said on French television BFM. Passengers were evacuated and police have secured the area.
Passengers on the train subdued the gunman and prevented further carnage, said Christophe Piednoel, spokesman for national railway operator SNCF. The train was then diverted to Arras, where police arrested the suspect, Piednoel said on French television i-Tele.
Investigators from France’s special anti-terror police are leading the investigation, a spokeswoman for the Paris prosecutor’s office said.
The attack took place while the train was passing through Belgium, according to a statement from the office Presidend Francois Hollande. Hollande said he’s spoken with Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel and the two leaders pledged to cooperate closely on the investigation.
Two of the victims were in critical condition, according to a statement from Hollande’s office.
The suspect is a 26-year-old Moroccan, said Sliman Hamzi, an official with police union Alliance, said on French television i-Tele.
The suspect was armed with an automatic rifle and a knife, Piednoel said.
France’s interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve was en route to Arras.
Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
The Daily Beast is reporting that two of the people who disarmed the gunman (who also had a knife and tried to use it) were American soldiers in civilian attire.
No report yet if those two are among the injured.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/cheats/2015/08/21/americans-stop-gunman-on-french-train.html
Was Liam Neeson anywhere on that train? Looking for his daughter perhaps?