The driver of the truck that plowed through a crowd in Nice last night (July 14), killing at least 84 people and injuring 200 more, has been identified as 31-year-old Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, authorities confirmed today.
Prosecutor François Molins told reporters that Bouhlel, a local delivery driver of Tunisian descent and a father of three, was known to police, with a history of threats, violence and petty crime. He had been detained twice in the past year, once for a road rage incident and once for “voluntary violence with a weapon.” Police investigating the attack have detained his ex-wife.
Molins said police still need to determine Bouhlel was acting alone or with accomplices, or if there were links with other terrorist groups. He said security services are not aware that Bouhlel had shown any signs of radicalization. However, authorities are treating the disaster as a terrorist attack.
Witnesses said Bouhlel, who prosecutors confirmed was driving a rented truck, was “zigzagging” through the crowd to inflict as much damage as possible. He drove along the promenade for two kilometers (1.2 miles), and was shot dead by police after firing repeatedly on three policemen.