U.S. hero who stopped attack stabbed

WASHINGTON — Spencer Stone, one of the three U.S. heroes who stopped a French train attack, was repeatedly stabbed near Sacramento.

A spokesman for the United States Air Force confirms the stabbing.

Spokesman, Lt. Col. Christopher Karns, said details are sketchy.

The stabbing is being handled by local law enforcement officials, and Karns had no details on the nature or exact location of the stabbing.

Stone, 23, is in surgery and in stable condition.

Stone, along with childhood friends Alek Skarlatos and Anthony Sadler, stopped a gunman on a Paris-bound passenger train in August when they were on vacation. They subdued a man with ties to radical Islam who boarded the train with a Kalashnikov rifle, a pistol and a box cutter.

Days after taking down 26-year-old Moroccan Ayoub El-Khazzani, Stone said the gunman who had an assault rifle strapped to his bare chest was “ready to fight to the end.” But Stone added that he and his friends also ready to fight to the end.

On Nov. 1, Stone is expected to receive a promotion of two ranks to staff sergeant and was awarded a Purple Heart for his efforts.

All three men received the Legion of Honor from French President Francois Hollande.

The three, who have appeared on late-night talk shows, also met with President Barack Obama, who praised them for teamwork, courage and quick-thinking actions that averted “a real calamity.”

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

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