Nice assailant reportedly texted for ‘more weapons’ before truck attack
The text message, investigators said, was sent to one of the four men arrested in connection with the attack on Saturday
NICE, FRANCE—Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, the man behind last week’s attack in Nice in which 84 people were killed, sent a text message before the attack demanding “more weapons,” French media reported Sunday, citing investigators.
The text message, investigators said, was sent to one of the four men arrested in connection with the attack on Saturday.
Bouhlel on Thursday drove a delivery truck through crowds of people along Nice’s main promenade as a fireworks display to celebrate Bastille Day was ending. He used a pistol to shoot into the crowd before he was killed by police.
In addition to the four arrests on Saturday, a man and a woman were arrested Sunday, French news agency AFP reported citing sources from the French Justice Ministry.
The attacker’s ex-wife was released Sunday after being arrested Friday.
Among the information to come to light is that Bouhlel had scouted the crime scene on the Tuesday and Wednesday before the attack.
And according news reports, the attacker had made efforts to settle his affairs and provide for his relatives.
French weekly Journal du Dimanche sited investigators as saying Bouhlel emptied his bank account, sold his car and told friends about his radicalization.
Reports published in the name of two Daesh (also known as ISIS or ISIL) media outlets said Bouhlel was one of the group’s “soldiers,” although they did not say whether there he had co-ordinated his plan with the group.
The claims were published on social media channels in the name of Islamic State’s Aamaq news agency and in an online audio file of the daily news bulletin from the group’s al-Bayan radio. They could not be authenticated.
https://www.thestar.com/news/world/...ted-for-more-weapons-before-truck-attack.html