The Tunisian delivery driver, who on Thursday evening smashed a 19-tonne lorry into a crowd killing 84 people, including 10 children, had shown no overt signs of radicalisation.
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Seeking to quell fear and criticism, the French government called up thousands of police reserves Saturday to increase security around the country, after the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for a beachfront Bastille Day attack that security forces failed to thwart.
The attacker’s father, who lives in Msaken, eastern Tunisia, said his son had suffered from depression and had “no links” to religion.
“He didn’t pray, he didn’t fast, he drank alcohol”, his father said.
The Islamic State claimed responsibility Saturday for the attack that killed more than 80 people in Nice, France, during the city’s Bastille Day celebration.
They portrayed him as a solitary figure who rarely spoke and did not return greetings when their paths crossed.
Here is what we know so far about the attack that the Islamic State group claims was carried out by one of its “soldiers”.
However, another said she had become friendly with him after they struck up a conversation one day in the stairwell when he was looking to buy some cigarettes.
According to her he was teetotal and refused to drink a glass of wine with her, saying: “No, I don’t drink”.
And a former neighbour said the 31-year-old had never spoken about extremism.
Speaking outside the high-rise block of flats on Boulevard Henri Sappia, where the suspect had previously lived with his family, Samiq, 19, who did not want to give his surname, said: “I never heard him speak about extremism, I can not believe that he was a member of Islamic State”.
After Bouhlel was shot, police found a handgun and some ammunition in the truck’s cab, as well as a replica handgun, two replica assault rifles, a cell phone and various documents, Molins said.
“He had a police and judicial record for threats, violence, theft and acts of criminal damage between 2010 and 2016”. Bouhlel’s estranged wife Hajer Khalfallah was being question by anti-terror experts last night. Four others were taken in for interviews overnight Saturday. The local children’s hospital said of the 30 minors brought for treatment after the attack, two had died, one was in critical condition, and three were on artificial respiration.
The victim was bleeding profusely and told officers that Bouhlel – who stayed on the scene after the attack to continue a delivery with his truck – was responsible.
The 21-year-old, who did not wish to give his name, told the Press Association: “It was all about helping identify and move bodies, dead bodies”.
“He defecated everywhere, he cut up his daughter’s teddy bear and slashed the mattress”.
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Still, Greenberg said the only people likely to develop significant mental health problems after such events are those already suffering from psychiatric illnesses, and that while some people might experience some short-term anxiety or stress, it was unlikely there would be a significant spike in mental health disorders among the general population.
