France train hero was stabbed trying to protect woman

The American train hero who was stabbed during a street-fight on Thursday was protecting a woman who was being beaten by her boyfriend, a witness claimed.

“He was defending her,” said Eric Cain, an employee at the A&P Liquor store who witnessed the brawl between Airman 1st Class Spencer Stone and a group of men.

“I figured it was a girlfriend dispute or something like that,” he told the Daily Mail. “She got hit twice, and that was mainly what I saw started the fight.”

Airman Spencer Stone in August after he thwarted a terrorist attack in France.Reuters

Stone was still in serious condition on Friday after undergoing surgery at UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento. Doctors told local media that it’s too early to say when he may be released.

Stone, who was one of three Americans who took down a Morocco-born terrorist who had opened fire on a train bound for Paris in August, was not the one who sparked the melee and was ultimately trying to keep his cool during the confrontation, Cain said.

“I mean he was more protecting, rather then the aggressor. He wasn’t the one that started the fight, that’s for sure,” he explained. “There was probably like eight people total, probably like three girls, four or five guys. They were all pushing and shoving. There was one taller Asian dude and one skinnier, shorter Asian dude and the taller Asian dude is the one that hit her. The shorter one was the one that stabbed Spencer.”

Cain also recalled how Stone shook off his injuries following the assault.

“He just walked away like normal and he went and sat down,” he said. “I wouldn’t have known he was stabbed then I saw the red on the back of his shirt. It was probably adrenaline because he just walked away like it was nothing.”

Cain added that the woman Stone was protecting ended up speeding off with his attackers following the assault.

“The girl he was sticking up for left with the guys that stabbed him,” he said. “A car pulled up and they all got in and bolted.”

The assailants had all come from Badlands Dance Club, according to Cain.

The self-described “Premier Gay Nightclub” had been holding their weekly “straight” night, which is known to attract loads of boozed up patrons.

“They were arguing like a bunch of friends who were getting out of a club being stupid,” Cain said, describing the group of attackers. “I almost walked back in the store and then it happened. It was like boom, boom, boom.”

Filed under 10/9/15