Nice killer sent laughing photo amid the crowds

18 July 2016 - 10:17 By Reuters

The Tunisian man who killed 84 people in France on Bastille Day had phoned his brother hours earlier and sent a picture of himself laughing as he mingled with the crowd, the brother said. Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, 31, a delivery driver, was shot dead by police on Thursday night after careering along a packed seafront promenade in Nice for about 2km.His brother Jabeur said in Tunisia that Mohamed had called him on Thursday and sent a picture of himself among the crowds in the southern French city."That last day he said he was in Nice with his European friends to celebrate the national holiday," Jabeur said. "He seemed very happy and pleased, he was laughing a lot."Lahouaiej-Bouhlel's motive remains unclear. France's prime minister said in remarks published yesterday that the attack, which was claimed by Islamic State, was Islamist in nature and that Bouhlel had been radicalised "very quickly".Neighbours in Msaken, about 120km south of Tunis, said Bouhlel had moved to France in 2005 and had last visited four years ago. They described him as sporty, uninterested in religion and from a normal family. Relatives said Bouhlel had begun calling them frequently in recent weeks."He spoke to me about sport, and how he was going to come back to Msaken soon," Jabeur said. "He asked for news about our parents ... he always spoke to me, we were very close. He sent us small sums of money recently, sometimes 300 or 400 euros, and mobile telephones."Bouhlel's sister has said he was treated for psychological issues before leaving Tunisia.Chemceddine Hamouda, a psychiatrist who treated him, said he had been aggressive towards his parents."Sometimes he had tried to lock his parents in a room in their house." - ..

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