Ayoub El-Khazzani has been identified as the man who boarded a high-speed Amsterdam-to-Paris train with a Kalashnikov rifle before being tackled by passengers. The 26-year-old Moroccan man was on the radar of authorities in France, Begium and Spain, had ties to radical Islam and may have traveled to Syria. The attacker was identified by a French official close to the investigation, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing, according to the Associated press.
Officials did not disclose a possible motive for the Friday attack, but Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said that Spanish authorities had advised French intelligence about the suspect because he belongs to the radical Islamist movement. France had El-Khazzani on their security watch list.
Three people were injured, but no one died thanks to the quick thinking of American servicemen who overpowered El-Khazzani, who was armed with an assault rifle, nine magazines, a pistol and a box cutter.
The Americans- U.S. Airman Spencer Stone and National Guardsman Alek Skarlatos from Roseburg, Ore.- and their friend, Anthony Sadler, a senior at Sacramento State University in California, were credited, along with British businessman Chris Norman, for subduing the gunman, knocking him unconscious.
US President Barack Obama has praised the passengers who stopped the gunman and telephoned them Saturday to commend and congratulate them, the White House said. “The president expressed his profound gratitude for the courage and quick thinking of several passengers, including US service members, who selflessly subdued the attacker,” the White House said in a statement.
El-Khazzani was being questioned Saturday by French counter-terrorism police who confirmed through fingerprints their suspicions that it was indeed El-Khazzani. He was transferred Saturday morning to anti-terror police headquarters outside Paris and can be held for up to 96 hours.
