2 American ‘heroes’ took down the gunman on a train in France

Two Americans successfully restrained a man armed with a Kalashnikov rifle after he attacked passengers on a high-speed train in France, officials said.

The train was traveling from Amsterdam to Paris on Friday when the man, who has since been taken into custody, opened fire. The gunman was also reportedly armed with at least one knife.

Capt. Richard Ulsh, a spokesman for US Marine Forces Europe, confirmed that two American passengers took the gunman down. “I can confirm they are Americans who subdued the gunman but nothing more,” Ulsh said. 

It is unknown if the Americans were civilians or military personnel. Fox news is reporting that they were off-duty US servicemen, and French media is calling them US soldiers.

According to Paris Match, the two US soldiers heard the sound of a Kalashnikov being loaded in the bathroom and were able to intercept the gunman. 

The suspect is being reported as a 26-year-old Moroccan whose motives are still unclear. CBS says police are not ruling out the possibility of a planned terror attack.

"Talking about a terrorist motive would be premature at the moment," said French interior ministry spokesman Pierre Henry Brandet, according to Reuters.

France has been on high alert since the attacks on the Charlie Hebdo magazine and a Jewish supermarket in Paris in January.

French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve praised the Americans, according to AP, saying they "were particularly courageous and showed great bravery in very difficult circumstances."

"Without their sangfroid we could have been confronted with a terrible drama," Cazeneuve continued.

The American passengers who overpowered the gunman are being called "heroes" by media, and at least one of them was injured and has been hospitalized.

Three people total were reportedly injured in the attack. Two were wounded directly by the gunman and one was hurt while trying to get away, a French Anti-terrorism Unit spokesman told ABC News. 

Christina Cathleen Coons, a New Yorker who was traveling on the train, told NBC that she dove under her seat and opened a fold out table when she heard gunfire.

"I saw the man who was shot in the neck stumble," she said. "He dropped his bloody duffel bag right in the seat across from me, and he collapsed to the floor."

The suspect was taken into custody and the train was evacuated after it stopped at the Arras station in northern France.

According to CBS, the attack took place while the train was passing through Belgium. In a statement from the office of President Francois Hollande, the French president said he's spoken with Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel and the two have pledged to cooperate on the investigation.