A hero older man stepped in to protect a young girl from a knife-wielding attacker during Saturday's train rampage in the UK, according to reports. As chaos erupted, some passengers prepared to defend themselves — one even readying a bottle of Jack Daniel's to fight back against the assailants.
The unnamed man was badly injured — suffering deep cuts to his head and neck — as he bravely stepped in to stop the attackers from killing a young girl on the blood-soaked LNER train traveling from Peterborough to London, witness Olly Foster told the BBC. "By the time I got to the end of the carriage, I was actually at the back of it and there was about six of us," Foster said.
Real Hero
"There was a girl, bless her, who was really really in a bit of state because the guy actually tried to stab her. And one of the older guys, who's an absolute hero, blocked it with his head. We're giving him jackets to keep the pressure on the blood," Foster added.
Foster, who was seated in the coach, said that as passengers pushed frantically through the train to escape, they left "blood all over the seats." He added that the terrified travelers had almost nothing to defend themselves with — just a bottle of Jack Daniel's whiskey, which some clutched in desperation as the attackers struck.
"We had a Jack Daniels bottle between us and that was it," Foster recalled. "So we're sitting there with one Jack Daniels bottle looking down this carriage, praying someone doesn't walk down with a knife or a gun."
Foster said he first realized something was terribly wrong when injured passengers came sprinting down the train, shouting, "Run, run — there's a guy stabbing literally everyone and everything!"
At first, he thought it might be a Halloween prank, but the horrifying reality quickly set in. The attack went on for about 10 to 15 minutes, though Foster said it "felt like forever" as terrified passengers tried to escape the chaos.
Motive Behind Attack Still Unclear
The motive behind the horrific attack remains unclear. At first, police used the code word "Plato" — a term in the UK that signals a possible "marauding terror attack." However, by Sunday, officials confirmed that the incident is not being treated as terrorism-related.
The two suspects are a 32-year-old Black British man and a 35-year-old British man of Caribbean descent, Officer John Loveless said. Both the suspects, dressed entirely in black, were tasered and arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after the train came to a stop at the LNER station.
Officials said ten people were taken from Huntingdon station for medical treatment, with nine suffering life-threatening injuries. Four of the victims have since been released from the hospital.
As the attack unfolded, terrified passengers scrambled through the train cars, desperately trying to escape the chaos.
"They were making their way through the carriage to get away from the suspects. They were extremely bloodied," a man identified only as Gavin told Sky News.
He described one of the suspects as wielding "a fairly large knife" and said the man was "running rampant" during the horrifying stabbing spree.
