SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Just two months after he was wounded while famously thwarting an attack on a Paris-bound train, Airman 1st Class Spencer Stone was stabbed early Thursday near a bar in northern California and is in serious condition at the UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento, the hospital system said.
"The family of Airman Spencer Stone appreciates the outpouring of love and support," the statement from UC Davis Health Systems reads.
A U.S. airman who was injured while helping thwart an attack on a train bound for Paris two months ago has been stabbed in northern California, a U.S. defense official speaking on condition of anonymity said Thursday. Airman 1st Class Spencer Stone suffered multiple stab wounds after an incident at a bar near Travis Air Force Base, where he is stationed, the official said. Stone is being treated for his latest injuries at a hospital and is in stable condition, Air Force spokeswoman Ann Stefanek said Thursday.
Stone was stabbed early Thursday in an apparent "nightlife-related" dispute between two groups of people in midtown Sacramento, city Deputy Police Chief Ken Bernard told reporters.
Bernard declined to describe what led to the dispute, but added, "At this point we have no reason to believe Mr. Stone is in any kind of trouble."
Stone was out with four friends -- a man and three women -- when a dispute arose with another group, Bernard said.
Police are looking for two men in connection with the stabbing.
Bernard described the pair as two Asian men who were wearing blue jeans and white T-shirts, and linked them to a dark gray or black 2009-2012 Toyota Camry.
Bernard said Stone's injuries were significant, but did not appear to be life-threatening.
WARNING: Video below has content that may be considered graphic. Viewer discretion advised.
U.S. Airman 1st Class Spencer Stone is interviewed in Paris Aug. 23, 2015, following a foiled attack on a French train. Stone was on vacation with his childhood friends, Aleksander Skarlatos and Anthony Sadler, when an armed gunman entered their train carrying an assault rifle, a handgun and a box cutter. The three friends, with the help of a British passenger, subdued the gunman after his rifle jammed. Stone's medical background prepared him to begin treating wounded passengers while waiting for the authorities to arrive. Stone is an ambulance service technician with the 65th Medical Operations Squadron stationed at Lajes Field, Azores.
Stone was one of five men who officials say stopped a gunman from attacking passengers of a Amsterdam-to-Paris train in August.
Stone rushed the gunman and was slashed several times with a box cutter in the process -- almost severing this thumb, officials said.
He also tended to one of his fellow heroes, French-American Mark Moogalian. The latter was shot while confronting the gunman, and Stone, after the gunman was subdued, was credited with helping stop Moogalian's bleeding.
All five were feted. Stone, Moogalian and the other three -- Briton Chris Norman and Stone's two American friends, Anthony Sadler and Army National Guard Spc. Alek Skarlatos -- received France's highest recognition, the Legion of Honor.
The suspect in the train assault, Ayoub El Khazzani, 25, of Morocco, was charged in France with attempted murder, attempted mass murder and membership in a terrorist organization, accused of intending to kill the train's passengers.
