A 7.65 caliber handgun was found on the attacker, and authorities also found several fake rifles and fake grenades inside the truck, according to BFM-TV.
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A Republican Guard pays respects after lowering the French national flag at half-mast at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, July 15, 2016.
“We are facing a war that terrorism has brought to us”, said Prime Minister Manuel Valls on Friday after an emergency meeting.
The 31-year-old who wreaked terror on the Nice seafront as he turned an evening celebrating Bastille Day into a night of terror in which he murdered 84 innocent people – drank alcohol, ate pork and took drugs.
So far no organisation has claimed responsibility for the attack and authorities have urged caution on linking Bouhlel to so-called Islamic State.
Nice has always been of special concern to French officials, who say young second and third generation immigrants living in the city’s poorer neighborhoods are being disproportionately recruited when compared to similar sized cities elsewhere in France.
At least 84 people were killed, including at least 10 children.
Police raids were said to be taking place at his home in Nice and other locations. I lived next door to him. He said he worked in a restaurant near the scene of the attack. “The goal of terrorists is to instill fear and panic but France is a great country and a great democracy that will not allow itself to be destabilized”, he said in televised remarks from Paris.
Reports suggest Bouhlel opened fire on the crowd with a 7.65 calibre pistol as he drove.
Since the attack occurred, more information is starting to come out about Bouhlel.
“People who knew him say he was a loner but we can’t rule out he was part of a network and recruited and not just a lone wolf, then the question for us – and one we have to answer quickly – is are there other immediate attacks looming?” a French counterterror official told VOA. That incident led to delivery driver being convicted in March.
U.S. President Barack Obama issued a statement saying, “We stand in solidarity and partnership with France, our oldest ally, as they respond to and recover from this attack”.
On Thursday, the Washington Post published a leaked document it said Kerry would put forward in Moscow calling for intelligence sharing to identify leadership targets, training camps, supply lines and headquarters of the Nusra Front, al Qaeda’s affiliate in Syria. “We strongly urge USA citizens in Nice to be in direct contact with your family members in the United States and elsewhere to advise them of your safety”.
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Two years ago French police thwarted a planned bomb attack on the capital of the French Riviera.
