France train gunman 'dumbfounded' by terrorism allegations: lawyer

The attacker was flagged as a terrorist by intelligence services in several countries

PARIS: A heavily-armed gunman overpowered by passengers on a crowded train is "dumbfounded" by allegations of terrorism and denies any shot was fired, his lawyer said in comments broadcast on Sunday.

The alleged attacker, named as 25-year-old Moroccan national Ayub El Khazzani, on Friday evening boarded a high-speed train in Brussels bound for Paris armed with a Kalashnikov assault rifle, Luger automatic pistol, nine cartridge clips and a box-cutter.

Witnesses say he opened fire, injuring a man before being wrestled to the floor by three American passengers and tied up, until the train stopped in the northern French city of Arras where he was taken into police custody.

Read: Promoting cultures: ‘All for Fun, Fun for All’ at Alliance Francaise

Sophie David, a lawyer assigned to his case at the beginning of his detention in Arras but who is no longer representing him, said he denies firing a single shot.

"He is dumbfounded that his act is being linked to terrorism," she told BFM-TV, adding the suspect who is believed to have lived in Belgium describes himself as a homeless man.

"He says that by chance he found a suitcase with a weapon, with a telephone, hidden away.

"He said he found it in the park which is just next to the Midi Station in Brussels, where he often sleeps with other homeless people."

According to Khazzani, who does not speak French and whose comments were translated by an interpreter, he boarded the train to rob people, and had intended to break a window and jump out to escape.

David said that when she told him some people were injured, he was "flabbergasted."

"He says that the Kalashnikov didn't work and he was brought under control immediately without a single shot being fired," David said.

She is no longer his lawyer as Khazzani has since been transferred to Levallois-Perret near Paris where he is being questioned by counter terrorism officers.

Spencer Stone, who serves in the US Air Force, was first to the gunman, who slashed him in the neck and almost sliced off his thumb with a box-cutter.

"At that point I showed up and grabbed the gun from him and basically started beating him in the head until he fell unconscious," said Skarlatos.

His friend Anthony Sadler, a 23-year-old student at Sacramento State University, and a British business consultant, Chris Norman, then helped keep the man subdued.

Khazzani was arrested when the train with 554 passengers aboard stopped at Arras station in northern France.

French President Francois Hollande is to thank the group for their courage at the Elysee Palace on Monday.

US President Barack Obama, meanwhile, called the three Americans and congratulated them on their "extraordinary bravery".

The shooting underlines the difficulties faced by intelligence services in tracking an unprecedented number of suspected extremists.

A Spanish counter-terrorism source said Khazzani had lived in Spain for seven years until 2014.

During his time in Spain, he came to the attention of authorities for making hardline speeches defending jihad, and was once detained for drug trafficking, according to the source.

Spanish intelligence services say he went to France, from where he travelled to Syria, but the suspect has reportedly denied going to the conflict-ridden country where the Islamic State group controls swathes of territory.

A source close to the French probe, meanwhile, said he "lived in Belgium, got on the train in Belgium with weapons likely acquired in Belgium. And he had identity papers issued in Spain."

Read: Train attacker's gun may have 'jammed', says Briton who helped stop him

French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said Spanish intelligence services had tipped off France over his ties to "radical Islamist movements", but it is unclear whether he lived in France at any time after leaving Spain.

German security services, meanwhile, flagged Khazzani when he boarded a flight from Berlin to Istanbul in May this year and in Belgium, Justice Minister Koen Geens confirmed Khazzani was "known" to the country's intelligence services.

France has been on high alert since gunmen went on the rampage in January, killing 17 people in Paris, and authorities have since thwarted several other attacks.