American servicemen and French passenger subdue gunman on train to Paris

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A French passenger and three Americans -- a civilian, an Air Force member and a National Guard member -- jumped into action. They quickly tackled him, possibly averting a massacre aboard the train.

By the time the suspect was subdued, three people had nonlife-threatening injuries, said Anthony Blondeau, a spokesman for Arras city in northern France, where the train pulled up after the incident and the suspect was arrested. One of the Americans was among the injured.

Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said Saturday in Paris that the Frenchman was the first to intervene, followed quickly by the Americans.

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The suspected attacker was armed with a Kalashnikov assault weapon, nine chargers, a Luger automatic pistol, a 9mm charger and a box cutter, the minister said.

A "French passenger tried courageously to overpower him before the suspect fired several shots, then two American passengers intervened and managed to overpower the shooter, immobilized him on the ground and put aside his weaponry," Cazeneuve said.

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French President Francois Hollande will receive the American and French men who intervened at the Elysee palace on Saturday and express "France's gratitude" to them, his office said via Twitter.

The French president also spoke by phone with them and "thanked them for their exceptional courage and their efficiency to prevent a tragedy," according to a statement from his office.

France's Prime Minister Manuel Valls similarly voiced his gratitude via Twitter to those who intervened to stop the attack, as well as his support for the victims.

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