Tunisia-born attacker a convicted criminal known to the police

PARIS — The terrorist who used a hired lorry to kill at least 84 people in a rampage during Bastille Day celebrations in Nice has been named by local media as a convicted criminal known to the police for armed attacks.

Tunisian-born Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, a 31-year-old delivery driver, was reported to be a French passport holder who lived in the Riviera city and was regularly in trouble with the law.

As hundreds remain in hospital — including many fighting for their lives in intensive care — investigators have been searching the home of Bouhlel in the Abattoirs area of Nice and carried out a controlled explosion on a white box van nearby.

An investigating source said: “An operation is currently underway at the dead suspect’s home in Nice. It is being raided by officers.”

Bouhlel’s last appearance in a criminal court was reportedly as recently as March, when he was found guilty of violent contact. Despite this, he had no known links with terrorism and was not under surveillance.

The fact that the killer was known to the authorities will be of grave concern to those trying to prevent terrorist attacks in France. A recent Paris parliamentary investigation into terror attacks in the country last year identified multiple failings by France’s intelligence agencies.

Reports say Bouhlel came from the Tunisian town of Msaken that he last visited four years ago. He was married with three children, Tunisian security sources told Reuters. Bouhel left his French identity card in the hired 19-tonne lorry used to murder dozens of people on Thursday night.

A woman living in the same shabby apartment block as Bouhel yesterday said he “seemed very weird”. She told The Daily Telegraph: “He lived alone. He said very little to anyone and wasn’t very polite. He wouldn’t hold the door open for you.”

His truck had zigzagged through crowds massing on the Promenade des Anglais, killing anyone he could.

After being stopped by armed police, who fired bullets into the lorry’s windscreen, Bouhel exchanged fire with officers using a pistol, before being shot dead.

A search of his vehicle uncovered a pistol, a larger gun, and a number of fake weapons and grenades.

CCTV footage showed him boarding the truck “in the hills of Nice” before driving down to the promenade, regional president Christian Estrosi said yesterday.

So far, there have been no claims of responsibility for the attack.

There have also been no claims of accomplices, but Mr Estrosi said the investigation should focus on finding anyone the man worked with.

“Attacks aren’t prepared alone. Attacks are prepared with accomplices,” Mr Estrosi said. “There is a chain of complicity. I expect it to be unveiled, discovered and kept up to date.”

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