Thalys Train Attacker Expresses Remorse at Paris Appeal Trial

"Do I regret what I did? How do you want me not to regret it. I shot a man I hit with a bullet in the back that came out near his neck. I was very lucky he didn’t die," Ayoub El Khazzani said on the last day of the appeal trial. "And all the victims I terrorized on that train, how do you want me not to regret it? Those people didn’t do anything to me. And my family too, they are victims," said the 33-year-old Moroccan, claiming to be ashamed of having acted this way. "I’m sorry, I apologize to all the people [...]. I’m ashamed. I swear I’m ashamed of what I did," reports Ouest France.

On Thursday morning, before the Paris Assize Court, Ayoub El Khazzani standing in his box, had a very different attitude than the one he had in 2020. Despite his remorse, the attack would have caused more damage without "the heroic intervention of the train passengers and the defective ammunition. His murderous intent is beyond doubt," said the public prosecutor. "We must not give El Khazzani the opportunity to repeat what he was unable to execute," she stressed at the end of her indictment.

On August 21, 2015, armed with an AK-47, a pistol, a cutter and nearly 300 rounds of ammunition, the defendant had fired and injured two people on the train connecting Amsterdam to Paris. He will be overpowered by passengers, including American soldiers on vacation.