Relatives proud of 3 American men who subdued gunman on train, relieved they're OK

In this image made from TV, Anthony Sadler, a senior at Sacramento State University, who helped overpower high-speed train attacker talks to the media early Saturday Aug. 22, 2015, in Arras, France. Three Americans and a Briton are together being hailed as heroes for tackling and disarming a gunman they encountered on a high-speed train traveling between Amsterdam and Paris Friday evening. (AP Photo /APTN) TV OUT - FRANCE OUT (The Associated Press)

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In this image made from TV, Anthony Sadler, a senior at Sacramento State University, left, sits with Alek Skarlatos, US National Guardsman from Roseburg, Oregon, who both helped overpower high-speed train attacker, talk to the media early Saturday Aug. 22, 2015, in Arras, France. Three Americans and a Briton are together being hailed as heroes for tackling and disarming a gunman aboard a high-speed train traveling between Amsterdam and Paris Friday evening. (AP Photo /APTN) TV OUT - FRANCE OUT (The Associated Press)

U.S. Spencer Stone waves as he leaves the police station in Arras, northern France, Saturday, Aug. 22, 2015. A gunman prepared to open fire with an automatic weapon on a high-speed train traveling from Amsterdam to Paris Friday, wounding several people before being subdued by passengers, officials said. Spencer Stone is one of the passengers credited with subduing the gunman. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo) (The Associated Press)

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Relatives of the three Americans who tackled and disarmed a gunman on a European train say they are proud of the men and relieved they weren't killed during those chaotic moments onboard a high-speed train traveling from Amsterdam to Paris.

Tony Sadler says his son, Anthony Sadler, called him to tell him what happened. He says he was stunned and then relieved his 23-year-old son was not injured or killed.

Sadler and two Sacramento-area friends, Spencer Stone and Alek Skarlatos, helped subdue the man carrying a handgun and an assault rifle.

The gunman slashed Stone several times with a box cutter. His mother, Joyce Eskel, tells the San Francisco Chronicle (http://bit.ly/1JcxmzV ) her son called her from the hospital and told her that the gunman also tried to shoot him twice but the weapon didn't work.

Eskel says "he's always been a hero to me. Now he's an actual hero."