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| Chris Norman, British businessman who felt he had to act to stop train gunman | |
| (34 minutes later) | |
| He adopted France as his home and, on Monday, Chris Norman – the British man who helped stop a suspected terror attack there – will be awarded its highest honour: the Légion d’honneur. | He adopted France as his home and, on Monday, Chris Norman – the British man who helped stop a suspected terror attack there – will be awarded its highest honour: the Légion d’honneur. |
| Norman, along with three American passengers, wrestled a suspected jihadi gunman to the ground after he opened fire on a train travelling from Amsterdam to Paris. He said he thought: “OK, I’m probably going to die anyway so let’s go.” | Norman, along with three American passengers, wrestled a suspected jihadi gunman to the ground after he opened fire on a train travelling from Amsterdam to Paris. He said he thought: “OK, I’m probably going to die anyway so let’s go.” |
| Related: France train attack heroes: 'It feels unreal – like a dream' | Related: France train attack heroes: 'It feels unreal – like a dream' |
| According to the Mail on Sunday, the 62-year-old businessman was born in Uganda and raised in South Africa, but holds a British passport. He went to the University of Reading, before moving to the south of France and running a business as an IT consultant to companies in Africa. | According to the Mail on Sunday, the 62-year-old businessman was born in Uganda and raised in South Africa, but holds a British passport. He went to the University of Reading, before moving to the south of France and running a business as an IT consultant to companies in Africa. |
| He told reporters that, once he got over his initial fear when the gunman emerged and opened fire, he decided to act, telling himself: “I would rather die being active trying to get him down than simply sit in the corner and be shot.” His wife told the newspaper of her pride that he had intervened. | He told reporters that, once he got over his initial fear when the gunman emerged and opened fire, he decided to act, telling himself: “I would rather die being active trying to get him down than simply sit in the corner and be shot.” His wife told the newspaper of her pride that he had intervened. |
| Norman, who was pictured holding a bravery award from the town of Arras – near to which the train was passing when the incident occurred – told a press conference: “I was sitting in the coach. I heard a shot, I heard some glass breaking then I saw somebody running down the aisle to the front of the train. | Norman, who was pictured holding a bravery award from the town of Arras – near to which the train was passing when the incident occurred – told a press conference: “I was sitting in the coach. I heard a shot, I heard some glass breaking then I saw somebody running down the aisle to the front of the train. |
| “I was facing towards the back and then a stood up to see what was happening. I saw a man with what I think was an AK-47 or something like a machine gun. My first reaction was to sit down and hide. Then I heard one guy, an American, say, ‘Go get him.’ I heard another American say, ‘Don’t you do that, buddy.’ | |
| “I decided then perhaps it was really the only time or chance to act as a team and try to take the terrorist. It was rapid reasoning. He had a Kalashnikov, he had a magazine full and I didn’t know how many magazines he had.” | “I decided then perhaps it was really the only time or chance to act as a team and try to take the terrorist. It was rapid reasoning. He had a Kalashnikov, he had a magazine full and I didn’t know how many magazines he had.” |