Two U.S. servicemen and their student friend who disarmed Moroccan terrorist and beat him unconscious in train aisle as he opened fire on Paris-bound passengers with his AK-47

• Air Force airman Spencer Stone ran at the gunman when he opened fire on the high speed service to Paris 
• Was travelling with Oregon National Guard member Alek Skarlatos, 22, who was travelling through Europe
• With the help of Anthony Sadler, from California, and British national Chris Norman, they stopped the attack  
• Stone was cut in the neck during the confrontation and is in hospital – although his injuries are not life-threatening 
• The 26-year-old Moroccan national, who was known to security services, got on the train in Brussels 
• He came out of the toilet brandishing the gun and opened fire. Fortunately, the hero passengers overpowered him
• Three people were wounded in the attack, including Stone. French police hailed the bravery of the bystanders 
• The gunman was taken into custody by French police at a train station in Arras. He is in custody in hopsital  

By WILLS ROBINSON FOR DAILYMAIL.COM and DARREN BOYLE FOR MAILONLINE

A US airman who foiled a terrorist attack on a France-bound train was knifed in the neck while disarming the crazed gunman.

Spencer Stone, who is part of the U.S. Air Force, spotted the 26-year-old Moroccan acting suspiciously and heard him trying to load his weapon in the toilet of the high speed train between Amsterdam and Paris.

He was travelling with Oregon National Guard member Alek Skarlatos, 22, who was on leave and traveling through Europe at the time after returning from a tour in Afghanistan.

With the help of their friend Anthony Sadler, from Pittsburg, California, and fellow passenger British IT consultant Chris Norman, they managed to wrestle the attacker to the ground, stopping what could have been a deadly terrorist attack.

Video footage of the aftermath has emerged, showing what appears to be the gunman lying on the floor, moaning with pain, with his hands and feet tied up with t-shirts after he was beaten unconscious.

The camera then pans around to the Kalashnikov resting on a seat surrounded by blood stains on the windows.

Scroll down for videos 

The 26-year-old Moroccan national, who was known to security services, got on the train in Brussels and attempted his attack soon after crossing the French border.

He came out of the toilet brandishing the gun and opened fire, wounding two people on board. Fortunately, the hero passengers were nearby and overpowered him.

The terrorist, named in reports as Ayoub el-Qahzzani, had at least nine full magazines of ammunition holding almost 300 rounds. He was arrested by police at a train station in Arras and taken to hospital where he is now in custody.

‘We heard a gunshot, and we heard glass breaking behind us, and saw a train employee sprint past us down the aisle,’ Sadler said from France. They saw a gunman entering the train car with an automatic rifle, he said.

‘The gunman never said a word,’ he added.

Skarlatos described Stone’s heroic actions to ITV News in the aftermath of the attack.

‘Spencer ran a good ten metres to get to the guy and we didn’t that his gun not working or anything like that,’ he said. ‘Spencer just ran anyway and if anybody would have gotten shot it would have been Spencer for sure and we’re very lucky that nobody got killed, especially Spencer.’

He added that he was in ‘good spirits’ in hospital, but was still shocked by what unfolded.

Pentagon spokesman Commander William Urban confirmed that one member of American military had been injured, but declined to formally identify him.

US President Barack Obama praised the ‘courage and quick thinking’ of the men.

Maj. Stephen Bomar, an Oregon Military Departments spokesman confirmed Friday evening that one of the Americans is a member of the Oregon National Guard’s 41st Infantry Brigade Combat team but declined to name him.

However Skarlatos was identified by his stepmother.

Bomar told The Oregonian: ‘It’s fantastic that no matter who it was, someone stepped up to stop such a horrific event. We’re absolutely proud that it happened to be someone from the Oregon Army National Guard.

El Pais claimed that the terror suspect had recently been in Syria before returning to Europe to launch his attack.

It is understood that the gunman boarded the train, which had more than 550 passengers on board, in Brussels and made his move as soon as it crossed into France.

French media claim that the suspect was previously known to French security services and was living in Spain. He has already been linked to a number of radical Islamic groups. He was classed, according to FranceInfo.fr as ‘potentially dangerous’.

Speaking in Arras, French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve praised the Marines for their timely intervention.

He said: ‘Thanks to them we have averted a drama.

‘(The Americans were) particularly courageous and showed extreme bravery in extremely difficult circumstances.’

The man was arrested by police near the town of Arras in northern France.

Belgian journalist Marin Buxant Tweeted that the US Marines were on leave in Brussels when they spotted the man and followed him on the train. When the suspect went into the toilet, the Marines recognised the sound of a weapon being armed and decided to act immediately.

Train company Thalys confirmed the incident happened. A spokesman said: ‘The situation is under control, the travellers are safe. The train stopped and the emergency services are on site.’

No one at the SNCF French railways was immediately available to comment on the report.

The motives behind the attack were not immediately known, although a spokesman for the interior minister said: ‘It is too early to speak of a terrorist link’.

The incident happened approximately 115 miles north of Paris near the town of Arras.

Engineer Laurent Duquesne said he followed a woman who was looking for help with her husband when he saw the carnage.

He told The Telegraph: ‘I went into the compartment and saw a man with what seemed to be a bullet wound in the neck, with another man trying to staunch the bleeding. he himself was wounded in the hand, possibly with a knife. They had tied up the gunmen and he was lying face down on the floor of the compartment with his hands tied behind his back.’

The gunman was arrested after the train pulled into the station in the northern French town of Arras, the SNCF spokesman told AFP.

The French actor Jean-Hugues Anglade, who appeared in the 1986 cult film ‘Betty Blue’ staring Beatrice Dalle, was lightly injured. It is understood he cut his hand while breaking the glass on the emergency alarm.

Anglade also played the hard-nosed cop Eddy Caplan in the gritty French crime drama Braquo.

Thalys said on its website that several trains had been delayed after the ‘intervention of security forces at Arras station’.

‘The train is at the station and emergency services are at the scene,’ said Thalys, which is jointly owned by the national rail companies of Belgium, France and Germany.

France remains on edge after Islamic extremists attacked the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo and a Jewish supermarket in Paris in January.

In June, a man beheaded his boss and tried to blow up a gas plant in southern France in what prosecutors say was an attack inspired by ISIS.

A Foreign Office spokeswoman said: ‘We are aware of reports of shots being fired on a train in France.

‘We are aware of reports that shots were fired on a train in France earlier today. The French authorities have responded. There are no reports that British nationals have been injured.’

Interior ministry spokesman Pierre Henry Brandet said: ‘A man opened fire on this Thalys train between Amsterdam and Paris, one person was very seriously injured. Talking about a terrorist motive would be premature at the moment.’

Francois Hollande, the French president, has said: ‘I express my solidarity with the wounded from the attack on the train from Amsterdam to Paris. Everything is being done to shed light on this tragedy.’