France train hero stabbed in California

U.S. airman Spencer Stone, celebrated as a hero for helping to stop a terror attack on a French train over the summer, was stabbed and seriously wounded outside a bar in his hometown early Thursday in what police said was an alcohol-related brawl.

"This incident is not related to terrorism in any way," Deputy Police Chief Ken Bernard said. "We know it's not related to what occurred in France months ago."

Stone, 23, was knifed three times in the upper body but was expected to survive after about two hours of surgery, said Dr. J. Douglas Kirk, chief medical officer at UC Davis Medical Center.

Kirk said Stone remained heavily sedated in the hospital's intensive care unit. He declined to discuss any details about the surgery or whether any vital organs were damaged in the stabbing, beyond saying Stone had "significant injuries."

Police said two assailants fled in a car. No immediate arrests were made.

Bernard said Stone was out with four friends when they got into a fight with another group of people, adding  he did not know whether Stone was drinking, but others in his group were.

Stone, 23, and two of his childhood friends from Sacramento, Alek Skarlatos and Anthony Sadler, stopped a gunman on a Paris-bound passenger train in August, receiving worldwide accolades and gaining sudden celebrity.

President Barack Obama met with the three last month, praising them for their quick thinking and courage and calling them "the very best of America." They were previously awarded France's highest honor by President François Hollande.

The three have appeared on late-night talk shows and received a hometown parade in their honor since subduing the attacker while vacationing in Europe.

Stone, who has been acclaimed for his aggressive role in disarming the gunman, underwent medical treatment at a military base in Germany for a lacerated thumb and other injuries he suffered in the attack. He is assigned to Travis Air Force Base in California.

Skarlatos is competing on the current season of ABC's "Dancing With the Stars," and he was rehearsing for the show on Oct. 1, when a gunman killed nine people at Oregon's Umpqua Community College, in which he is enrolled. 

The Associated Press