French authorities detained two more people Sunday in the investigation into the Bastille Day truck attack on the Mediterranean city of Nice that killed at least 84 people, as authorities try to determine whether the slain attacker was a committed religious extremist or just a very angry man.
(FOX)- A man and a woman were detained Sunday morning in Nice, according to an official with the Paris prosecutor’s office, which oversees national terrorism investigations. The official provided no details on their identities, and said five people detained previously remain in custody. Neighbors told The Associated Press that the attacker’s estranged wife was among them.
Investigators are hunting for possible accomplices to truck driver Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, a 31-year-old Tunisian who had lived in Nice for years. He was killed by police after ramming his truck through crowds onNice’s famed seafront after a holiday fireworks display Thursday night.
The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but it’s unclear whether Bouhlel had concrete links to the group. The IS statement said he was following their calls to target citizens of countries fighting the extremists.
French officials did not dispute the claim but they have not provided concrete evidence of a connection.
Neighbors described the attacker as volatile, prone to drinking and womanizing, and in the process of getting a divorce. His father, in Tunisia, said his son did not pray or fast for Ramadan, the Muslim holy month.
But he may have had a swift, recent change toward a more extremist worldview. Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve told reporters Saturday that “it seems he was radicalized very quickly.”