NICE: Described by his neighbors as a handsome but “frightening” man, Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, who killed at least 84 people in the French city of Nice by driving his truck into a crowd, had run-ins with the law but was not on militant watch lists. Bouhlel ploughed a truck into crowds celebrating Bastille Day on the French Riviera late on Thursday.
While a history of threats, violence and theft had brought him to the attention of police, Bouhlel, a 31-year-old Nice resident born in Tunisia, was not French intelligence services’ list of suspected militants.
He was convicted for the first time in March this year, for road rage, French Justice Minister Jean-Jacques Urvoas said.
“There was an altercation between him and another driver and he hurled a wooden pallet at the man,” Urvoas told reporters.
While a history of threats, violence and theft had brought him to the attention of police, Bouhlel, a 31-year-old Nice resident born in Tunisia, was not French intelligence services’ list of suspected militants.
He was convicted for the first time in March this year, for road rage, French Justice Minister Jean-Jacques Urvoas said.
“There was an altercation between him and another driver and he hurled a wooden pallet at the man,” Urvoas told reporters.
