Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel | |
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Native name | محمد لحويج بوهلال |
Born |
M'saken, Sousse Governorate, Tunisia |
3 January 1985
Died | 14 July 2016 Nice, France |
(aged 31)
Cause of death | Gunshot wound |
Residence | |
Nationality | Tunisian |
Known for | 2016 Nice attack |
Killings | |
Country | France |
Location(s) | Promenade des Anglais, Nice |
Target(s) | Bastille Day crowds |
Killed | 86 |
Injured | 434 |
Weapons |
Renault Midlum cargo truck .32-caliber handgun |
Mohamed Salmene Lahouaiej-Bouhlel (French pronunciation: [mɔamɛd lauɛʒ bulɛl]; Arabic: محمد لحويج بوهلال Muḥammad Laḥwiyyij-Būhlāl; January 3, 1985 – July 14, 2016) was a Tunisian living in France who carried out the 2016 Nice attack, in which he drove a truck into a crowd celebrating Bastille Day on the Promenade des Anglais in Nice, France, killing 86 people and injuring 434.
Immediately after the attack, Lahouaiej-Bouhlel was shot dead by responding French police officers.
The Times of India described Lahouaiej-Bouhlel as "mentally unstable", with a tumultuous personal life, which included drug use and consumption of violent online content. Police examination of his phone revealed what Sky News described as a "string" of relationships with both men and women, including an affair with a 73-year-old man.
Lahouaiej-Bouhlel was born in M'saken, Tunisia, a small town about 10 kilometres (6 mi) outside the coastal city of Sousse. According to police reports, he had a French residency permit and moved to Nice in 2005, where he worked as a delivery-truck driver. He trained in martial arts, frequented salsa night clubs, and had an "unbridled sex life". Lahouaiej-Bouhlel was married with three children, but was in the process of divorce. He was reported to have had financial difficulties and to have worked as a driver, acquiring a truck permit less than a year before the attack. In January 2016, he fell asleep at the wheel of a van, and was subsequently fired.