News November 16, 2015
Paris Train-Attack Heroes Reflect on Friday's Violence
Before Sunday night's game against the Detroit Pistons at Staples Center, the Los Angeles Lakers presented personalized Lakers jerseys to the three Americans who thwarted a terrorist attack on a train in France in August.
This past summer, Alek Skarlatos, Spencer Stone, and Anthony Sadler tackled a gunman and prevented any fatalities on the train on which they were traveling as tourists. The trio, who saw firsthand what a terrorist attack could look like, chatted with "Extra" about the Paris terror attacks that took place on Friday. Alek commented, "Obviously, we're just as shocked as anybody, and maybe it may have touched a little bit more of a nerve with us because of what we went through, obviously, and just because you stop one terrorist attack it doesn't mean they're going to stop coming anytime soon."
Spencer shared some advice to those who may be confronted with a similar situation. "You gotta overpower them… They're always going to pick a place where there is more people than them, so if everyone just has the same goal to rush them and take them down, at least not that many people will get hurt."
Anthony chimed in, "You gotta act, so we can stop terrorism." On that note, Spencer added, "We can't sit down." Alek reiterated, "You're going to die anyway, so you might as well give it a shot and get lucky like we did."
Anthony and Spencer also had messages for the families affected by the tragedy. Sadler said, "To keep hope alive, prayers and thoughts out to them for sure." Stone added, "Praying for everyone in France and I pray for President Hollande to be making the best decisions he can to deal with the problem and to stay strong."