Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, the Nice truck killer, was aided in planning the deadly Bastille Day massacre in Nice by five suspects who are now in custody.
Paris prosecutor François Molins reported this update, saying, “The investigation underway since the night of July 14 has progressed and not only confirmed the murderous premeditated nature of Mohamed Lahouaiej-Boulel’s act, but has also established that he benefitted from support and complicity.”
Four men and one woman have been arrested for their involvement in planning the attack, which left 84 dead and hundreds more injured. According to Molins, the suspects are French, Tunisian, and Albanian nationals. An investigation into Lahouaiej-Bouhlel’s phone records and computer files reveals connections to the charged suspects, most importantly—the plans to acquire the truck—used to drive into the crowd gathered at the Promenade des Anglais to watch the Bastille Day fireworks. The findings also include plans to obtain the gun used by Lahouaiej-Bouhlel in the attack.
One of the suspects, Franco-Tunisian Mohamed Oualid G., filmed the aftermath of the attack, capturing the terror and panic as paramedics and journalists swarmed the area. Only one suspect, Franco-Tunisian Ramzi A., had a criminal record.
Lahouaeiej-Bouhlel’s telephone showed pictures taken at a Bastille Day fireworks show in Nice in 2015 ad a concert on the Promenade des Anglais on July 17, 2015, in which he zoomed in o the crowd. On April 4, Tunisian Chokri C. sent Lahouaiej-Bouhlel a Facebook message that stated: Load the truck with 2,000 tonnes of iron…release the brakes my friend and I will watch.”
Ramzi A., Mohamed Oualid G., and Chokri C. have been charged as accomplices in “murder by a group with terror links.” An Albanian man named Artan H. and a Franco-Albanian dual national woman named Enkeldja Z. are suspected of having provided Lahouaiej-Bouhlel with a pistol; they have been charged with “breaking the law on weapons in relation to a terrorist group.”
“It appears…that Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel planned and developed his criminal project for several months before taking action,” said Molins.
These revelations come as the government has revealed it will begin an investigation into possible security lapses which enabled Lahouaiej-Bouhlel to carry out the Bastille Day terror attack.
