It appears from information revealed Tuesday by a French prosecutor that the world owes much to the people who subdued a gunman on a Thalys train in France late last week. By jumping him and disarming him, they may have prevented a massacre of enormous proportions.
The prosecutor, Francois Molins, said at a press conference that the suspect, Ayoub El Khazzani, carried with him about 200 rounds of ammunition. His Internet usage, Molins said, showed “clear evidence of terrorist intent.”
And his goal? The prosecutor put it in stark terms: El Khazzani, the prosecutor said, was “attempting to kill a whole train full of people.”
El Khazzani has been charged with attempted murder, attempted mass murder and membership in a terrorist organization, Molins said.
Molins said El Khazzani has invoked his right to remain silent after days of “evasive answers.”
‘I’m not going to be the guy who dies sitting down’
Four passengers who thwarted the gunman’s plan were awarded the French Legion of Honor on Monday by French President Francois Hollande.
One of them, Briton Chris Norman, told CNN on Tuesday that he preferred to die trying over sitting and waiting for a near-certain death.
“My position was, I’m not going to be the guy who dies sitting down,” Chris Norman told CNN’s “New Day” on Tuesday. “If you’re going to die, try to do something about it.”
Norman was among four people, including the three Americans, who overpowered a man armed with a Kalashnikov automatic rifle Friday on a train from Amsterdam to Paris.
A fifth man, French-American Mark Moogalian, who tried to take away the gunman’s rifle before the other four got involved, will receive his own Legion of Honor when he recovers from his injuries.
Norman said that, at the award ceremony, he and French President Francois Hollande had a conversation in which they discussed the importance of everyone participating in the fight against terrorism.
Police cannot be everywhere, Norman said.
‘The power of the citizens’
“I think as citizens, we need to really move forward and we need to take some of the responsibility for it,” he said, referring to the battle against terrorism. “Whether it is simply being more vigilant or by preparing yourself for action if ever you do find yourself in that situation.
“I’m not an expert in the area but I do think we need to figure out how to harness the power of the citizens,” he said.
Norman told CNN’s Chris Cuomo that he and the others who subdued the apparent would-be attacker, though they had never met, acted as a team during the take-down.
He has had a chance since Sunday to talk with the others — Anthony Sadler, Spencer Stone and Alek Skarlatos, three American friends on vacation in Europe — about those critical events.
“I think we’ve got a pretty strong bond,” he said.