2016-Schedule.pdf

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders 2016 schedule released

web1_bearwallow.jpg

Swimming bear and efforts to aid a duck

<p>ARRAS, France &#8212; One serves in the Air Force, another recently served in Afghanistan in the National Guard, another is studying physical therapy in California &#8212; and all three Americans are being hailed as heroes for disarming a gunman on a high-speed train who was known to intelligence services in three countries.</p><p>Counter-terrorism investigators on Saturday formally identified the man as 26-year-old Moroccan Ayoub El-Khazzani, the man investigators suspected early on was the gunman who targeted an Amsterdam to Paris train on Friday.</p><p>French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said earlier that Spanish authorities had notified French intelligence of the man in February 2014 because he belonged to the radical Islamist movement.</p><p>An official close to the investigation said El-Khazzani was identified via his fingerprints. The official was not authorized to speak publicly about a case in progress and asked not to be identified by name.</p><p>A French citizen, who stumbled on the gunman, a Kalashnikov strapped across his shoulder, also is being given kudos as the first to try to subdue him. And a British businessman jumped in to help subdue the gunman.</p><p>Air Force serviceman Spencer Stone, who suffered cuts during the attack on Friday, left a hospital on Saturday. A dual French-American citizen was also wounded as he was hit by chance by a gunshot on the train, which eventually was rerouted to Arras, the nearest station in northern France, French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said.</p><p>Stone, of Carmichael, California, was traveling with childhood friends Anthony Sadler, a senior at Sacramento State University, and Alek Skarlatos, a National Guardsman from Roseburg, Oregon, when they heard a gunshot and breaking glass. Sadler told The Associated Press that they saw a train employee sprint down the aisle followed by a gunman with an automatic rifle.</p><p>&#8220;As he was cocking it to shoot it, Alek just yells, &#8216;Spencer, go!&#8217; And Spencer runs down the aisle,&#8221; Sadler said. &#8220;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.&#8221;</p><p>Throughout the brief but terrifying episode, Sadler said, &#8220;The gunman never said a word.&#8221;</p><p>The suspect was transferred Saturday morning to anti-terror police headquarters outside Paris and can be held for up to 96 hours.</p><p>The Belgian federal prosecutor&#8217;s office has also opened an investigation because the suspect had boarded the train in Brussels, said spokesman Eric Van der Sypt. He said Belgian authorities are assisting the investigation, which is led by France. Belgium also announced it was imposing stricter security on trains.</p><p>Cazeneuve said the Americans &#8220;were particularly courageous and showed great bravery in very difficult circumstances,&#8221; and that &#8220;without their sangfroid we could have been confronted with a terrible drama.&#8221;</p><p>French authorities are on heightened alert after Islamic extremist attacks in January left 20 people dead, including the three gunmen. In June, a lone attacker claiming allegiance to Islamic radicals beheaded his employer and set off an explosion at an American-owned factory in France, raising concerns about other scattered, hard-to-predict attacks.</p><p>Chris Norman, the British businessman who helped the Americans subdue the gunman, said he was working on his computer when he heard a shot and glass breaking and saw a train worker running.</p><p>President Barack Obama telephoned Stone, Skarlatos and Sadler to commend and congratulate them, the White House said.</p><style>
.neFileBlock {
	margin-bottom: 20px;
}
.neFileBlock p {
	margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px;
}
.neFileBlock .neFile {
	border-bottom: 1px dotted #aaa;
	padding-bottom: 5px;
	padding-top: 10px;
}
.neFileBlock .neCaption {
	font-size: 85%;
}
</style>
<div class='neFileBlock'>
<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/web1_France-Train-Attack_Sopr1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">French soldiers patrol at Gare du Nord train station in Paris, France on Saturday. A gunman prepared to open fire with an automatic weapon on a high-speed train traveling from Amsterdam to Paris on Friday, wounding several people before being subdued by passengers, officials said. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/web1_France-Train-Attack_Sopr1.jpg</photo0><caption0>French soldiers patrol at Gare du Nord train station in Paris, France on Saturday. A gunman prepared to open fire with an automatic weapon on a high-speed train traveling from Amsterdam to Paris on Friday, wounding several people before being subdued by passengers, officials said. </caption0><photoCredit0>AP Photo </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/web1_Sadler1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Sadler </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/web1_Sadler1.jpg</photo1><caption1>Sadler </caption1><photoCredit1>AP Photo </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/web1_Stone1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Stone </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/web1_Stone1.jpg</photo2><caption2>Stone </caption2><photoCredit2>AP Photo </photoCredit2></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Gunman identified as Moroccan</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Nadine Achoui-Lesage and Stephanie Siek</p><p>Associated Press</p></bylineMeta></div>

Americans hailed for subduing train attacker in France