French prosecutor rejects train attacker's story

The gunman overpowered by three Americans and a Briton on a European train last week had a first-class ticket and watched a violent jihadi video before the attack, a French prosecutor said Tuesday.

Prosecutor François Molins said a formal terrorism investigation was opened against suspect Ayoub El-Khazzani, 26, who showed a "determined intent" to commit mass murder Friday on the high-speed, Amsterdam-to-Paris train. El-Khazzani was armed with an assault rifle, 9mm handgun, box cutter and more than 200 rounds of ammunition.

"He was planning on using all the weapons," Molins said. "Only the intervention of other passengers (halted) his attempt to kill a train full of people."

Molins rejected El-Khazzani's claim that he was poor, homeless and simply trying to rob the train. He said El-Khazzani boarded the train with a first-class ticket that cost 149 euros — about $170. Moments before the attack, the Morocco native had watched a jihadi video on his phone, which had been activated that day, Molins said.

Molins  said El-Khazzani spent much of 2014 in France, Germany and Austria. In May, he was  observed flying to and from Turkey — a key access point for would-be Islamic militants bound for Syria.

The terrorism investigation will focus on who financed and otherwise aided el-Khazzani, Molins said.

Authorities say El-Khazzani shot one passenger before he was tackled, beaten and tied up. Monday, a grateful French President François Hollande presented the prestigious Legion d'Honneur to the men who stopped the attack: U.S. Air Force Airman 1st Class Spencer Stone, 23; Alek Skarlatos, 22, an Oregon National Guardsman; Anthony Sadler, 23, a Sacramento State University student; and British citizen Chris Norman, 62.

Stone suffered several cuts from the box cutter, and his left thumb was almost severed. The Pentagon said Stone and Skarlatos are being considered for U.S. military medals, including a possible Purple Heart.

A French banker who wrestled with the gunman before the shooting began also received the French medal, The Telegraph of Britain reported. The banker, 24, did not want his name made public.

Mark Moogalian, a French American from Midlothian, Va., also will receive the medal. Moogalian, 51,  grabbed the rifle, then El-Khazzani shot him with the handgun. Moments later, Stone and the others subdued El-Khazzani and helped Moogalian with his neck wound. Moogalian remains hospitalized.

Moogalian, a teacher and artist who has lived in France for more than 20 years, was traveling with his wife, Isabella Risacher. Risacher told Europe-1 radio, "When my husband collapsed, I saw across the seats. He looked at me and he said, 'I'm hit, I'm hit.' He thought it was over and he was going to die."

Moogalian's sister Julia Allen told NBC News, "You see stuff on the news, and you never think it would be our brother. Mark would give anything for anybody. He's just that kind of person."

Hollande said Tuesday that France should be prepared for more attacks. "We are still exposed," the French president said in an address to diplomats in Paris. "The aggression that took place on Friday … could have degenerated into monstrous carnage without the courage of the passengers."