http://www.oregonlive.com/today/index.ssf/2015/08/oregon_national_guard_member_h.html

FROM THE OREGONIAN, August 22nd, 2015:

“An Oregon Army National Guard member from Roseburg was one of three Americans who stopped a gunman who opened fire Friday aboard a high-speed train passing through Belgium.

The guard member, 22-year-old Alek Skarlatos, had wrapped up a tour in Afghanistan in July and was spending a month in Europe with friends, his stepmother Karen Skarlatos told The Oregonian/OregonLive on Friday night.

He was on the Amsterdam-to-Paris train with a group, including childhood friends Anthony Sadler, a senior at Sacramento State University, and Spencer Stone, a member of the U.S. Air Force, Sadler told the Associated Press.

“We heard a gunshot, and we heard glass breaking behind us, and saw a train employee sprint past us down the aisle,” Sadler said from France, describing the drama. Then, they saw a gunman entering the train car with an automatic rifle, he said.

• More reading: “He said he and his friend took down a terrorist” 

“As he was cocking it to shoot it, Alek just yells, ‘Spencer, go!’ And Spencer runs down the aisle,” Sadler said. “Spencer makes first contact, he tackles the guy, Alek wrestles the gun away from him, and the gunman pulls out a box cutter and slices Spencer a few times. And the three of us beat him until he was unconscious.”

Alek Skarlatos

Another passenger helped tie the gunman up, and Stone then helped another passenger who had been wounded in the throat and losing blood, Sadler said.

“The gunman never said a word,” he added.

The suspect is a 26-year-old Moroccan, according to Sliman Hamzi, an official with the Alliance police union. CNN, citing an unnamed European official, said the attacker had been on the radar of European counterterrorism agencies for his radical jihadist views.

The Americans were widely praised for their bravery. The White House issued a statement saying that President Barack Obama was briefed on the shooting, and said, “While the investigation into the attack is in its early stages, it is clear that their heroic actions may have prevented a far worse tragedy.”

Maj. Stephen Bomar, an Oregon Military Department spokesman, would confirm only that one of the Americans was attached to Oregon National Guard’s 41st Infantry Brigade Combat team but declined to name him.

“It’s fantastic that no matter who it was, someone stepped up to stop such a horrific event,” Bomar said. “We’re absolutely proud that it happened to be someone from the Oregon Army National Guard.”

Stone, who the stepmother said is stationed in the Azores Islands off Portugal, is expected to recover. She said her stepson called home soon after the incident to let the family know he was all right.

“It’s been an emotional time for all of us,” she said from her Roseburg home. “Even though Alek is strong and brave, this could have gone either way. We’re thankful it turned out the way it did and just so very proud.”

Alek Skarlatos has been with the Oregon Army National Guard for three years and is a graduate of Roseburg High School, his stepmother said. The 22-year-old had been in Germany for about 10 days with other friends when he met up with Stone in Amsterdam earlier this week and the two were part of a group that boarded the train to France.

Alex Skarlatos and Spencer grew up together in California and kept in touch even after Alek moved to Roseberg when he was 13 to live with her and his father.

‘I’ve always said that I felt I could trust putting my life in Alek’s hands,” Karen Skarlatos said. “I honestly can’t say I’m surprised that he knew what to do when faced with that kind of situation. It’s just who he is.'”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

— Everton Bailey Jr.