News outlets in France have reported the suspected terrorist who shot a gun and drove his truck into a crowd of people celebrating Bastille Day in Nice, killing at least 84 and injuring 100 or more, was a local resident with a Tunisian background.
And his name was Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, said the Nice-Matin newspaper. An unnamed senior French government official and an anti-terrorism official also confirmed the terrorist as Bouhlel to other media.
Meanwhile, police sources confirmed to Thompson-Reuters that Bouhlel, 31, was the attacker, saying he was a French national of Tunisian descent who lived in Nice.
Nice-Matin also reported Bouhlel was not on any intelligence watch lists, and that he worked as a delivery driver. His criminal past was confined to arrests for petty theft and minor acts of violence, the newspaper reported.
The suspect was killed by police as he tried to flee the scene.
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The Daily Mail reported Bouhlel told local authorities he was delivering ice cream, and that’s why he was allowed to drive his truck onto the promenade section of the heavily populated beachfront area. The news outlet also reported Bouhlel had actually been parked on the street nearby the scene of attack for almost nine hours before police questioned him – and had they checked his vehicle, would have found the back “packed full of explosives and ammunition,” the Daily Mail reported.
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The Independent, citing local media, reported Bouhlel was not known to be especially religious, and had been a father for about three years. Investigators are currently questioning his family members, and searching for possible accomplices.
Another newspaper, the Telegraph, cited an unnamed source as saying Bouhlel was “known to the police for violence and using weapons, but had no direct links with terrorism. His identity card was found in the lorry. He had French and Tunisian nationality.”
Meanwhile, the Daily Mail said Bouhlel’s criminal background included at least one barroom brawl, for which he was arrested in January, and that he was married with three children, though living separate from his wife. The news outlet also said he’d been arrested before for domestic violence, theft and possession of weapons.
Bouhlel was on probation for 15 days for reportedly falling asleep at the wheel of his truck, and crashing into four vehicles on a highway, Spanish media reported.
A neighbor was quoted in the Telegraph as saying Bouhlel was “quiet and moody.”
The neighbor also added: “I did not know whether he was a Muslim. I think he had a motorbike.”
