2015 Thalys train attack
| 2015 Thalys train attack | |
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| Part of Wave of Terror in Europe | |
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A Thalys train operating the same route, leaving Brussels-South in June 2014
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| Location | On board Thalys train n°9364 in Oignies, Pas-de-Calais, France. |
| Coordinates | 50°27′57″N 2°58′26″E / 50.46583°N 2.97389°ECoordinates: 50°27′57″N 2°58′26″E / 50.46583°N 2.97389°E |
| Date | 21 August 2015 17:45 (CEST) |
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Attack type
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Attempted mass shooting |
| Weapons |
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| Deaths | 0 |
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Non-fatal injuries
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4 (3 directly, including the perpetrator) |
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Suspected perpetrators
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Ayoub El Khazzani |
| Defenders | Damien A., Mark Moogalian, Spencer Stone, Anthony Sadler, Alek Skarlatos, and Chris Norman |
On 21 August 2015, a shooting and stabbing incident took place on board a Thalys train in France on its way from Amsterdam to Paris. The train had just crossed the border from Belgium into France and was traveling through Oignies in the department of Pas-de-Calais, when the perpetrator opened fire in a train carriage before being subdued by passengers, one of whom he stabbed. Including the assailant, four people were injured, none fatally. The incident is believed by French police to be an Islamist terrorist attack, although the gunman claimed the motivation was robbery due to hunger. Several people who subdued the attacker were awarded France's highest decoration, the Legion of Honour, as well as other awards.
On 21 August, at approximately 17:45 CEST (5:45 p.m.), 25-year-old Moroccan man Ayoub El Khazzani reportedly exited the toilets on car No. 12 of Thalys train 9364 traveling from Amsterdam to Paris, shortly after the train had crossed the border from Belgium into France. He was shirtless and armed with an AKM assault rifle, for which he had nine magazines and a total of 270 rounds of ammunition. He was also carrying a pistol and a bottle of petrol.
A 28-year-old Frenchman, whose name was released only as "Damien A.", was heading to the toilet as the armed gunman was exiting. Damien A. attempted to restrain or disarm the gunman but fell to the floor in the ensuing struggle. An American-born Frenchman, 51-year-old Mark Moogalian, attempted to wrest the rifle from the gunman, who then drew a semi-automatic 9mm Luger pistol. Moogalian was shot through the back of the neck; seriously injured, he played dead. The assailant also tried to fire his rifle, but it jammed.
The gunman was then tackled and subdued by a group of three American friends, two of them off-duty members of the U.S. Armed Forces. They were identified as 23-year-old Airman First Class Spencer Stone, 23-year-old Anthony Sadler, and 22-year-old Specialist Alek Skarlatos. Sadler told CNN that Skarlatos yelled "Get him!" after which "Spencer immediately gets up to charge the guy, followed by Alek, then myself." In an interview with Sky News, Skarlatos added that they had been lucky that the attacker's rifle had jammed.
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Wikipedia