Nice Attacker Plotted for Months, Had Accomplices, Official Says

— -- The man who killed 84 innocent people by driving a truck through a packed crowd at a fireworks display in Nice, France, may have plotted the attack for at least a year and is believed to have had the help of at least five other people, a French official said today.

Paris prosecutor François Molins said authorities found "revealing" online searches and photos on the cellphone and laptop belonging to Nice killer Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel dating back to last year, including photos of the 2015 fireworks display.

Molins said French authorities have five people — one woman and four men — in custody who are facing preliminary terrorism charges for allegedly helping Bouhlel. One of the men is Tunisian, two men are French-Tunisian, one man is Albanian, and the woman is French-Albanian, Molins said. None of the individuals were previously known to intelligence services.

In a Facebook message from one of the male suspects in April, he says, "put 2,000 tons of metal in the truck, f--- the brakes, and I'll watch," according to Molins.

Surveillance cameras and other photographs link at least two of the men to the truck, Molins said, and one of the men allegedly provided Bouhlel with the firearm he used to shoot at police in the attack. The DNA of one of the men was found on the truck and, images were recovered of another in the truck next to Bouhlel just one day before the attack.

Just minutes before the attack, Bouhlel exchanged messages with one of the men, thanking him for the gun. One of the men walked around the target area with Bouhlel before the attack, and another stuck around afterward, recording video and taking photographs of the investigators at work, Molins said.

Before the attack, one of the suspects cheered the January 2015 terrorist attack at the offices of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris, saying, "I'm happy! They brought the soldiers of Allah to finish the work."

Bouhlel, a Tunisian living in Nice, was killed by police at the end of his vehicular rampage on July 14. A large, international crowd had gathered at the waterfront in Nice for the fireworks display in honor of Bastille Day, one of France's largest national holidays.