Welcome Guest [Log In] [Register]
Welcome to Uk Debate Mk 2, the UK's liveliest political and social debate site.


You're currently viewing our forum as a guest. This means you are limited to certain areas of the board and there are some features you can't use. If you join our community, you'll be able to access member-only sections, and use many member-only features such as customizing your profile, sending personal messages, and voting in polls. Registration is simple, fast, and completely free.


Join our community!


If you're already a member please log in to your account to access all of our features:

Username:   Password:
Add Reply
Semper-Fi;; (Off Duty) US marines on Thalys HST foil French/Belgian terrorist plot;
Topic Started: Aug 21 2015, 07:12 PM (129 Views)
Jonksy
Member Avatar
Senior Member
[ *  *  *  * ]
BREAKING NEWS: US Marines 'take down' Kalashnikov-wielding gunman onboard a high-speed train between Amsterdam and Paris after he injures three 'including one Briton'

A gunman opened fire on board a high speed train in northern France
Eyewitnesses said three U.S. Marines on the train disarmed the gunman
The man was armed with a deadly a Kalashnikov AK-47 assault rifle
Three people were wounded and the gunman is currently in police custody


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3206426/U-S-Marines-armed-gunman-onboard-high-speed-train-Amsterdam-Paris.html#ixzz3jTicMy2G

Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
papasmurf
Senior Member
[ *  *  *  * ]
I will wait for a trustworthy new source give more depth to the story. There seems to be a lot of guess work in the Daily Mail one.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Jonksy
Member Avatar
Senior Member
[ *  *  *  * ]
papasmurf
Aug 21 2015, 07:20 PM
I will wait for a trustworthy new source give more depth to the story. There seems to be a lot of guess work in the Daily Mail one.
https://pubsecrets.wordpress.com/2015/08/21/all-in-a-days-work-us-marines-take-down-ak-wielding-gunman-in-french-railroad-station/
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Jonksy
Member Avatar
Senior Member
[ *  *  *  * ]
Jonksy
Aug 21 2015, 07:22 PM
papasmurf
Aug 21 2015, 07:20 PM
I will wait for a trustworthy new source give more depth to the story. There seems to be a lot of guess work in the Daily Mail one.
https://pubsecrets.wordpress.com/2015/08/21/all-in-a-days-work-us-marines-take-down-ak-wielding-gunman-in-french-railroad-station/
http://www.newsfiber.com/p/s/h?v=EsUurtV8I5lY%3D+n8YiP6ll%2Flo%3D
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Steve K
Member Avatar
Once and future cynic
[ *  *  *  * ]
This would be a trustable source

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-34023361

Doesn't back the Marines allegations but that could still be true. Either way good that whoever they were they stopped another nutter
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
papasmurf
Senior Member
[ *  *  *  * ]
Video at link.

http://www.france24.com/en/20150821-france-several-injured-shooting-amsterdam-paris-high-speed-train

france 24Europe

Several injured in shooting on Amsterdam-Paris high-speed train
Latest update : 2015-08-21

Three people were wounded including two seriously when a gunman opened fire with an automatic weapon on a high-speed train travelling from Amsterdam to Paris Friday, officials said.

According to Paris prosecutors, the suspect -- who is also believed to have been armed with a knife -- was overpowered by two American passengers before he was arrested as the train stopped in Arras, 185 kilometres north of Paris.

National railway operator SNCF said that all passengers had been evacuated and that police had secured the area.

A statement from French President François Hollande’s office said that two of the victims were in critical condition.

Local newspaper “La Voix du Nord”, meanwhile, reported that French actor Jean-Hugues Anglade is believed to be among the people injured.

Interior ministry spokesman, Pierre Henry Brandet, told broadcaster BFM TV that although the motive for the shooting is still unclear, “talking about a terrorist motive would be premature at the moment”.

The suspect is a 26-year-old man of Moroccan origin and known to intelligence services, a police source said.

France's Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve is currently en route to Arras.

(FRANCE 24 with AP, AFP, REUTERS )

Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Deleted User
Deleted User

If the Americans were Marines..thank you and well done. If the Americans were not Marines..thank you and well done. !tkq!
Quote Post Goto Top
 
Steve K
Member Avatar
Once and future cynic
[ *  *  *  * ]
gansao
Aug 21 2015, 08:14 PM
If the Americans were Marines..thank you and well done. If the Americans were not Marines..thank you and well done. !tkq!
And if they were Marines and not Americans ..thank you and well done. !tkq!
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
AndyK
Senior Member
[ *  *  *  * ]
Sounds like something out of a Die Hard film.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/11817490/Gunman-injures-three-after-firing-Kalashnikov-on-train-in-France-latest.html

3 injured.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
johnofgwent
Member Avatar
It .. It is GREEN !!
[ *  *  *  * ]
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-34023361

The guardian article looks more like a bloody twitter feed, I found this on the BBC that covers the story

If we are to believe this, three US Marines off duty riding the train from Paris to Amsterdam heard this bloke readying a kalashnikov in the train's toilet and confronted him when he came out.

IMO not so much "die hard", more "the source code" ...


I wonder if they counted the french actor who injured himself punching out the glass to raise the alarm as one of the three ?
Edited by johnofgwent, Aug 21 2015, 10:29 PM.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
papasmurf
Senior Member
[ *  *  *  * ]
johnofgwent
Aug 21 2015, 10:28 PM
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-34023361

The guardian article looks more like a bloody twitter feed, I found this on the BBC that covers the story

If we are to believe this, three US Marines off duty riding the train from Paris to Amsterdam heard this bloke readying a kalashnikov in the train's toilet and confronted him when he came out.

IMO not so much "die hard", more "the source code" ...


It has only just been confirmed (Sky news) that one of the wounded is American armed services. France 24 is still commenting on two Americans "neutralising" the attacker.
(I really hate 24 hour news, I prefer to wait for facts not rumours.)
Edited by papasmurf, Aug 21 2015, 10:32 PM.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Heinrich
Member Avatar
Regular Guy
[ *  *  *  * ]
I do not believe this account as one marine could have taken-down a gunman upon leaving the toilet without sustaining an injury.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
johnofgwent
Member Avatar
It .. It is GREEN !!
[ *  *  *  * ]
Heinrich
Aug 21 2015, 11:08 PM
I do not believe this account as one marine could have taken-down a gunman upon leaving the toilet without sustaining an injury.
Well I think I'll go stand over with PS and wait for someone to put together an integrated account not just a reaction to the twatterverse but on the face of what I've read so far I'm inclined to believe it ...
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
papasmurf
Senior Member
[ *  *  *  * ]
johnofgwent
Aug 22 2015, 01:11 AM
Well I think I'll go stand over with PS and wait for someone to put together an integrated account not just a reaction to the twatterverse but on the face of what I've read so far I'm inclined to believe it ...
Quite, it has now transpired it was three American servicemen (various but no marines) plus one ex pat Englishman old enough to know better.
What mystifies me is how the man was not spotted with an AK47 plus at least 16 full magazines for it, plus a handgun before he got anywhere near the train. (The weight of itself must have meant he was struggling walking with it all in a rucksack.)

Correction two American servicemen plus an American student and one ex pat Englishman old enough to know better.
Edited by papasmurf, Aug 22 2015, 09:08 AM.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Oddball
Senior Member
[ *  *  *  * ]
gansao
Aug 21 2015, 08:14 PM
If the Americans were Marines..thank you and well done. If the Americans were not Marines..thank you and well done. !tkq!
Amen to that!


ps. Dear old Heinrich - Some folks appraisal of a situation and consequent reactions can be a lot quicker than others.
Edited by Oddball, Aug 22 2015, 09:00 AM.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Heinrich
Member Avatar
Regular Guy
[ *  *  *  * ]
Oddball2
Aug 22 2015, 08:57 AM
gansao
Aug 21 2015, 08:14 PM
If the Americans were Marines..thank you and well done. If the Americans were not Marines..thank you and well done. !tkq!
Amen to that!


ps. Dear old Heinrich - Some folks appraisal of a situation and consequent reactions can be a lot quicker than others.
I do not get yur meaning, Oddball2.
Initially I understood the story to mean that two trained marines heard the gunman load his rifle as they were outside the tiny toilet and somehow allowed him to exit and harm them and others. I knew this could not have been true. We are getting a different account now.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
RoofGardener
Member Avatar
Lord of Plantpots
[ *  *  *  * ]
That version sounds a bit.... unlikely to me. It sounds like a journalist trying to "sex up" a story.

Does an AK-47 make any partiuclar sound when being assembled ? If so, why would US Marines be familiar with that sound ?

I was under the impression that these high-speed trains where a bit plush. The toilets are hidden away at the ends of the carriage, seperated from the passenger compartment by corridor doors. Would our intrepid marines be able to hear the AK47 sounds, unless they where already suspicious and where outside the toilet door itself ?

OK... a slightly more recent report from the Guardian names the two "Marines"; one is in the airforce, the other was a National Guardsman. Presumably neither of them would have training for this sort of situation... which makes me even more impressed with the two of them !
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
johnofgwent
Member Avatar
It .. It is GREEN !!
[ *  *  *  * ]
RoofGardener
Aug 22 2015, 09:23 PM
That version sounds a bit.... unlikely to me. It sounds like a journalist trying to "sex up" a story.

Does an AK-47 make any partiuclar sound when being assembled ? If so, why would US Marines be familiar with that sound ?

I was under the impression that these high-speed trains where a bit plush. The toilets are hidden away at the ends of the carriage, seperated from the passenger compartment by corridor doors. Would our intrepid marines be able to hear the AK47 sounds, unless they where already suspicious and where outside the toilet door itself ?

OK... a slightly more recent report from the Guardian names the two "Marines"; one is in the airforce, the other was a National Guardsman. Presumably neither of them would have training for this sort of situation... which makes me even more impressed with the two of them !
Well I have ridden the Thalys from Gard du Nord to Bruxelles Midi more than once. I am fairly sure there was some sort of sliding door separating the bog from the main carriage on the trains I rode. I recall there were TWO bogs at the back of the carriage in the trains I rode and I also recall that you can definitely hear the bog flush and the sink being used if you're standing outside waiting your turn to take a leak ...

Ooh look a seating plan ;-)

https://www.b-europe.com/Travel/Trains/Thalys/Seat%20map

So turning to what went on here, well, who knows. As I said I'm not in the mood to speculate that much but let's say these guys suspected this bloke for some reason, or just went to the double bog in an incredibly jumpy state of mind ... either way if this bloke is being a little loud about loading the magazine into his AK47 I bet the noise would have carried out of the cubicle and to a suspicious or jumpy US grunt I can't believe they would fail to match that noise to the noise their own weapons made... from that point it's downhill all the way really ...
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
RoofGardener
Member Avatar
Lord of Plantpots
[ *  *  *  * ]
My impression from the Grauniad article was that our three hero's where seated when the terrorist appeared, having already fired the gun ?
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
AndyK
Senior Member
[ *  *  *  * ]
Steve K
Aug 21 2015, 09:47 PM
gansao
Aug 21 2015, 08:14 PM
If the Americans were Marines..thank you and well done. If the Americans were not Marines..thank you and well done. !tkq!
And if they were Marines and not Americans ..thank you and well done. !tkq!
Boo if they were not marines and not American.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
johnofgwent
Member Avatar
It .. It is GREEN !!
[ *  *  *  * ]
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-34024776

At last, some concrete information.

The coverage in this video includes statements from the men who carried out the act of intervention against this moroccan terrorist who was known to police and yet was allowed to board this train armed to the fecking teeth.

From their own words on this video, it seems they noticed the man carrying a weapon from a distance of some ten yards away and the first of the americans to "engage" him, did so making use of his martial arts skills until he was prevented from taking further action by being stabbed in the neck, the cause of his "serious" injuries. The statements made to camera suggest the terrorist's AK47 malfunctioned in some way allowing the said american serviceman to close the ten metre distance without getting shot. From the additional statement made by an unidentified englishman travelling on the train it seems the group of three men decided their only chance was to take on this bastard mob handed.

I think they were incredibly reserved in their actions which seem to have delivered a live and remarkably uninjured terrorist to the authorities
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
papasmurf
Senior Member
[ *  *  *  * ]
johnofgwent
Aug 23 2015, 09:59 AM


I think they were incredibly reserved in their actions which seem to have delivered a live and remarkably uninjured terrorist to the authorities
Quite, when he stopped moving they stopped hitting him, a very restrained response in the circumstances.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Deleted User
Deleted User

Sounds even more impressive in real life than the first story.
Quote Post Goto Top
 
1 user reading this topic (1 Guest and 0 Anonymous)
« Previous Topic · Politics · Next Topic »
Add Reply