Stone, who was hospitalized for minor injuries after the gunman attacked him with a box cutter, on Sunday described for the first time how he responded during the incident, which occurred Friday on a high-speed train traveling from Amsterdam to Paris.

Stone spoke at a news conference at the U.S. ambassador’s residence in Paris along with Anthony Sadler and National Guardsman Alek Skarlatos.

Stone said he was motivated “to survive” when he rushed the gunman. He was subdued by the Americans while the train was traveling through Belgium, but was taken into custody in France after the train was rerouted to the northern French town of Arras. “So were we”.

French authorities also told AP El-Khazzani had lived in the southern Spanish city of Algeciras, frequenting a mosque which is under surveillance there.

The attorney said El-Khazzani often slept in the Brussels train station, and thought the train would have “wealthy” passengers he could rob.

Sadler sounded skeptical when asked if it might have been a robbery and not terrorism.

El-Khezzani’s lawyer said her client does not understand the suspicions, media attention or even that a person was wounded.

Here is what happened, according to CNN: When Skarlatos “heard gunfire and breaking glass, and sensed something was wrong”, he mobilized the others. Another passenger threw himself on the gunman; his gun went off several times, hitting another passenger. Mooligan wrested the rifle away from the attacker, The Telegraph reported. “He took out a box cutter and started stabbing at me with that”. Three American passengers and a British businessman tackled El-Khazzani, choked him until he was unconscious, and then hogtied him.

“He is dumbfounded that his action is being characterised as terrorism”, she said.

The three said they’d never imagined their holiday to be anything like this.

Norman, 62, said he thought the suspect’s gun may have jammed, preventing more bloodshed. “Our training kicked in after the struggle”, he said.

“I saw he was squirting blood out of the left or right side of his neck. I would rather die being active, trying to get him down than simply sit in the corner and be shot”.

Around 850 French and 300 Belgians have left to fight in Syria and Iraq, and hundreds have already returned, say intelligence officials, overwhelming their ability to monitor them all.

“If it wasn’t for them, I would be dead”, he said.

According to Sadler, the trio were initially sitting in a different carriage, but a bad Wi-Fi connection led them to get up and move to what became the scene of the attack.

El-Khazzani is now being quizzed by French counter-terror cops after brandishing an AK-47 on the Amsterdam to Paris service as it sped through Belgium. Sadler and Stone are both 23 years old, while Skarlatos is 22.

The three Americans have been friends since childhood. I was going to use my shirt, but I realized it wouldn’t have worked.

Skarlatos said El-Khazzani appeared to have little or no firearms training.

Reporter: Authorities say the quick action of all three Americans saved lives.