Here's what we know about the truck attack in Nice

Here’s what we know about the truck attack in Nice

Scene of truck attack on the Promenade des Anglais in Nice.

By Ann M. Simmons

July 14, 2016 6:42 PM PT

A large truck plowed through a crowd of people celebrating Bastille Day in the French city of Nice, killing at least 84 people, according to French authorities, who are investigating the incident as a terrorist attack.

What happened?

Reports started to emerge around 10:30 p.m. that a truck had crashed into a crowd in Promenade des Anglais, near Nice's Palais de la Mediterranee.
Some witnesses said they heard gunshots and explosions, but there was confusion because fireworks were being set off at the time of the crash.
Witnesses described mass panic as hordes of people began to flee in all directions. “It was like the running of the bulls,” said Michael Bordieri, a New Yorker vacationing in Nice, referring to the annual event in Pamplona, Spain, where throngs of people run in front of bulls on a course of a sectioned-off area of a town's streets.
Witnesses said a white truck plowed into the crowd, moving at 25 to 30 mph.

Who committed the attack?

At a press briefing, French prosecutors identified the truck driver as Mohamed Lagouaiej Bouhlel, born in the Tunisian capital of Tunis on Jan. 3, 1975.
Prosecutors said Bouhlel rented the refrigerated truck on July 11 and it should have been returned by July 13.
Bouhlel drove about a mile (2 km) down the promenade. He exchanged gunshots with police. He was eventually killed, found dead in the passenger seat of the truck, according to French prosecutors.
Among the arsenal of weaponry found inside the truck were two automatic weapons, two Kalashnikovs, M16s, a grenade and bullets. Authorities also found a driver’s license and an ID card bearing Bouhlel’s name. A bicycle was also discovered in the truck.
Authorities were able to positively identify Bouhlel from his fingerprints.
Bouhlel’s ex-wife has been detained, according to French prosecutors.

What else do authorities know about the attacker?

According French prosecutors, Bouhlel, 41, was a chauffeur and deliveryman. He was known to police and had a criminal record for “threats, violence and petty theft.”
According to media reports, citing French prosecutors, Bouhlel was detained on March 23, 2016, and sentenced to six months for a crime. He had been convicted of “voluntary violence with weapon” in January 2016, according to the reports.
French prosecutors said they were not aware that Bouhlel had ever shown any signs of radicalization.

How many casualties?

At least 84 people are reported dead in the attack in Nice, according to French officials. Ten of them were children, including 11-year-old Brodie Copeland of Texas. He was on vacation in France with his father, Sean, who was also killed.
202 people have have been injured, 52 of them critically. Twenty-five of the injured are still in a coma, prosecutors said.

What we don’t know

It’s not clear whether the truck driver acted alone or had accomplices.
French officials characterized the events as a "terrorist attack." But there has been no claim of responsibility, and it is not known whether the attack was motivated, inspired or carried out by a terrorist organization. The Paris anti-terrorism prosecutor's office has taken charge of the investigation.

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