French train attack: Briton and three Americans honoured for foiling gunman

“Hero”: François Hollande with Chris Norman
EPA/Michel Eular
Peter Allen24 August 2015

The Briton and three Americans who overpowered a gunman on a crowded train today received France’s highest honour.

President François Hollande praised the men for their bravery as he awarded them the Legion d’Honneur at the Elysée Palace in Paris.

Mr Hollande said Chris Norman, 62, and Americans — US Air Force serviceman Spencer Stone and student Anthony Sadler, both 23, and National Guardsman Alek Skarlatos, 22 — were “heroes”.

Mr Hollande said: “We are here to honour four men who, thanks to their bravery, managed to save lives. They showed what could be done in terrible circumstances. In the name of France, I would like to thank you.

“The whole world admires your bravery. It should be an example to all of us and inspire us. You put your lives at risk in order to defend freedom.”

Chris Norman, left, and Anthony Sadler, Spencer Stone and Alek Skarlatos after the ceremony
AP Photo/Michel Euler,

The gunman, Ayoub El-Khazzani, 25, has been moved to a high-security police station near Paris after being overpowered in nearby Arras on Friday. He was carrying an AK-47 assault rifle, a Luger pistol and a box-cutter blade. Mark Moogalian, 51, an American-born French national who tried to stop the gunman, is in hospital with gunshot wounds. He is expected to receive the Legion d’Honneur later.

Intelligence services have suggested that El-Khazzani, a Moroccan national, is an Islamist extremist. But the gunman claimed he had stumbled across the weapons in a park in Belgium and decided to use them to rob the passengers travelling from Brussels to Paris.

His lawyer, Sophie David, said: “He is dumbfounded that his act is being linked to terrorism.”

Mr Skarlatos said: “He clearly had no firearms training whatsoever.

“If he knew what he was doing ... we probably wouldn’t be here today along with a lot of other people.”

Mr Stone reached El-Khazzani first and was slashed in the neck and thumb with the box-cutter. Mr Sadler said: “The gunman would have been successful if my friend Spencer had not gotten up. I want that lesson to be learned.

“In times of terror like that please do something. Don’t just stand by and watch.”

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in