PARIS: The Tunisian man suspected of killing three people in France’s Nice spoke to his family on a video call outside the church hours before the attack, but showed no signs of extremism, family said today (Friday).
The family lives in Thina, just down the coast from the port city of Sfax, a jumping-off point for young people seeking to take boats to Europe.
According to his sister, the suspect, Brahim Aouissaoui, had gone to the Notre-Dame church soon after arriving in Nice on Thursday morning looking for a place to sleep. “He showed us the area and said he planned to rest in a building opposite the church,” she added.
The family members further informed that when the news channels showed the aftermath of the attack in which three people were killed, they immediately recognised the place he had been.
Talking to an international news agency, the family said that they were in shock at his detention by police and the idea that he had committed such a violent crime.
“My brother is a friendly person and never showed extremism,” Brahim Aouissaoui’s older brother Yassin said. “He respected all other people and accepted their differences even since he was a child,” his brother added.
Yassin further said, “He did not tell (that he planned to leave Tunisia) and we were surprised when he told us he had reached Italy.” A suspect’s neighbour said that Aouissaoui not known to be part of any militant religious groups.
Meanwhile, the French police informed that the suspect left Sfax in September and arrived in Nice by train on Thursday morning. The family was also now under investigation and his sister Afef said their phones had been taken by police.
Tunisian authorities have also authorised an investigation into whether a group called the Mahdi Organisation exists and carried out the Nice attack, based on social media claims of responsibility.
