The knifeman was not listed by Tunisian police as a suspected militant before he left the country, according to judicial officials in Tunis
Credit: News Scans/News Scans
The 21-year old Tunisian who stabbed three people to death in a Nice cathedral in southern France turned from drink and drugs to a hermit-like life of prayer before committing his terror atrocity in the Riviera city, according to members of his family.
Brahim al-Aouissaoui, from Sidi Omar Bouhaila in Tunisia, beheaded one 60-year old woman at Nice Notre-Dame Basilica on Thursday morning, slit the throat of sexton Vincent Loquès, 55, and stabbed to death 44-year-old mother-of-three, Simone Barreto Silva (below).
He was tasered and then shot 14 times by police who arrived on the scene when the alarm was raised. He is being treated in hospital and is still in a critical condition.
Simone Barreto Silva, named by French media as one of the victims of a deadly knife attack at the Notre Dame church in Nice
Credit: Reuters/Reuters
Speaking from the city of Sfax in Tunisia, the assailant’s mother said he had dropped out of school and had worked as a motorcycle mechanic.
At first, she said, “he drank alcohol and used drugs”.
“I used to tell him, ‘we are poor and you’re wasting money?’ He would reply if God wills it, he will guide me to the right path, it’s my business’," she added.
A picture of Brahim al-Aouissaoui, who is suspected by French police and Tunisian security officials of carrying out Thursday's attack in Nice
Credit: Zoubeir Souissi/REUTERS
However, then he turned to religion and isolated himself for the past “two years and a half years”, she said.
"He prayed [and] went from home to work and back, not mixing with others or leaving the house," said his mother, crying as she clutched a passport photo of the young man in a white hoodie.
France’s anti-terrorism prosecutor said Aouissaoui had travelled to Bari, a port city in southern Italy, after reaching the Italian island of Lampedusa, a key landing point for migrants crossing in boats from North Africa, on September 20.
The mother of the Nice assailant Brahim Aouissaoui speaks to journalists at the family home in the Tunisian city of Sfax
Credit: FETHI BELAID/AFP via Getty Images
After being quarantined, he was sent to the mainland and ordered to leave Italy within seven days.
The knifeman was not listed by Tunisian police as a suspected militant before he left the country, according to judicial officials in Tunis. He had been living in Sfax, a port about 80 miles from Lampedusa, and a departure hub for Tunisians looking to make the crossing to Europe.
He had already tried once before to reach Europe, and did not tell his family he was making another attempt, according to his brother, Yassine (see below).
Yasin, the brother of the Nice assailant Brahim Aouissaoui, shows his picture in front of the family home in the Tunisian city of Sfax
Credit: Fethi Belaid/AFP via Getty Images
His brother added that after successfully reaching Italy and finding work harvesting olives, he made his way to France.
The family said he called on the evening of October 28, the day before the attack, telling them he had just arrived in the country.
He said he would sleep in front of the church, and sent them a photograph showing him at the cathedral where the attack took place.
"He didn’t tell me anything," said Yassine, adding he could not understand how he would be able to carry out the attack in Nice just a few hours after arriving in France.
Police say they now believe he arrived “24 to 48 hours before the attack”.
Judicial sources said they had no leads via the 47-year old man they arrested on Friday but were checking for potential accomplices by examining the two mobile phones Aouissaoui left behind.
According to a substitute prosecutor at the Tunisian anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office, a group called Al Mehdi of Southern Tunisia, previously unknown to Tunisian authorities, claimed responsibility for the terror attack.
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