PARIS — One of three Americans acclaimed as heroes for tackling an alleged Islamic State gunman aboard a Paris-bound train testified at the man’s trial Friday that he tried to kill him.
Alek Skarlatos, an Oregon resident who ran for Congress in the state’s 4th District, told the Paris court that he yanked a pistol from the attacker’s hand, turned it on him and pulled the trigger but that the gun did not fire.
“I was honestly trying my best to kill or restrain him,” Skarlatos said.
The attack suspect, Ayoub El Khazzani, faces a maximum sentence of life in prison if he is convicted of attempted terrorist murder. The 31-year-old Moroccan is being tried with three suspected accomplices.
The recollections in court this week from passengers who disarmed the attacker on the train from Amsterdam have highlighted the split-second decisions that foiled what could have become a mass slaughter. The passengers’ heroics on Aug. 21, 2015 inspired Clint Eastwood to direct a Hollywood movie reenacting the dramatic events: “The 15:17 to Paris.”