Paris prosecutor François Molins said Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel had been “completely unknown to both France’s domestic and foreign intelligence officials” before the attack claimed by the Islamic State .
“This sort of thing fits in perfectly with calls for murder from such terrorist organisations,” Molins told a news conference, adding the investigation would focus on issues such as potential accomplices, how Bouhlel procured a gun and whether he was connected to radical networks.
Bouhlel lived in the Quartier des Abbatoirs, a neighbourhood near the promenade where he drove a lorry into a crowd, but far removed from the image of warmth, sun and sand that attracts thousands of tourists to Nice every summer. His modest flat in a five-storey block was raided on Friday. Residents spoke of their shock that one of them was responsible for the death of 84 people. The area is home to a many Tunisians.
