France train shooting: 'Instinct' led US passengers to react

 

A US passenger who tackled a gunman on a train from Amsterdam to Paris said survival instinct led him to react.

Off-duty US airman Spencer Stone said he had just woken from a deep sleep when he saw the gunman and moved to restrain him on Friday.
He overpowered the gunman with Alek Skarlatos, a member of the US National Guard, US student Anthony Sadler and Briton Chris Norman.
They are to receive the Legion d'Honneur from the French president.
Francois Hollande will present the award - France's highest honour - in recognition of their bravery, early on Monday.
A French passenger, who wants to remain anonymous, and a French-American man who was shot during the attack will receive the award at a later date.
Meanwhile, French authorities say the suspect being questioned, Moroccan national Ayoub El-Khazzani, 25, has links to radical Islamism.
He was flagged up to French authorities by their Spanish counterparts in February 2014.
He is reported to have lived in France, Spain, and Belgium and to have travelled to Syria.



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