French Leader to Award Highest Honor to Five Passengers for Stopping Gunman

French President Francois Hollande will award three US citizens, a Briton and a French the country's highest national commendation Monday for subduing a gunman on board a high-speed Amsterdam-Paris train last week.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Alek Skarlatos, Spencer Stone, Anthony Sadler from the United States and UK national Chris Norman foiled a potential massacre on board a Thalys train in the northern French city of Arras on Friday by overpowering the gunman. A fifth individual who helped in averting the attack, a French national, declined to be identified or give interviews.

Sky News cites a member of Hollande’s entourage as saying the French leader will present the National Order of the Legion of Honor to the five later in the day.

The presidential website cites 09:00 a.m. local time (07:00 GMT) as the reception time for the five passengers to be hailed as heroes.

Before being tackled and neutralized, the gunman opened fire and injured five passengers.

Authorities link the assailant, Moroccan national Ayoub Khazzani, 26, to terrorist groups and say he was under surveillance by Belgian, Spanish and German intelligence agencies.

Khazzani claimed through a public defender that he intended to rob passengers because he was hungry.

The suspect reportedly lived in Spain between 2007 and 2014, then moved to either France or Belgium after purportedly spending time in Syria.