What we know about the Thursday night attack in Nice, France:
- At least 84 people were killed when a 31-year-old man drove a large truck for more than a mile through a crowd that had gathered on a seaside street to watch a Bastille Day fireworks display. The attack took place at about 10:30 p.m. local time. At least 10 of the victims were children.
- The perpetrator of the attack has been named in multiple press accounts as Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, a Nice resident of Tunisian origin who was married with three children. He was shot and killed by responding police.
- Bouhlel’s motive is unknown, and no group has yet claimed responsibility for his actions. He was reportedly known to authorities for “petty crime violations” but not for connections to any radical ideology.
- This is the third major terror attack in France in 19 months, following the Charlie Hebdo and kosher supermarket attacks in January 2015 and the Nov. 13, 2015 attacks in Paris. It follows a number of other high-fatality attacks worldwide in recent months such as the June 12 Orlando nightclub shooting, the June 28 Istanbul airport attack, and the July 1 attack on a restaurant in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Updates below.
***
Update, 12:15 p.m.: At least 10 of the victims in Nice were children, a French prosecutor says. One of the children was an 11-year-old American from the Austin, Texas area who was on vacation with his family. His father was also killed.
