The message “I Need To Be Nice” is written as a play on words, referring to the name of the city, at a makeshift memorial to honor the victims of the deadly attack in southern France.

MSAKEN, Tunisia — The uncle of the truck driver who killed 84 people on the French Riviera says his nephew was indoctrinated about two weeks ago by an Algerian member of the Islamic State group in Nice.

French officials could not confirm today that attacker Mohamed Lahouaiyej Bouhlel had been approached by an Algerian recruiter, saying that the investigation is ongoing.

IS claimed responsibility for last week’s attack, though Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said today that investigators have found no sign yet that Bouhlel had links to a particular network.

The driver’s uncle, Sadok Bouhlel, told The Associated Press that given Bouhlel’s family problems — he was estranged from his wife and three children — the Algerian “found in Mohamed an easy prey for recruitment.”

Bouhlel’s rapid radicalization has puzzled investigators. Friends and family said he had not been an observant Muslim in the past. Cazeneuve said today on RTL radio that the driver may have been motivated by IS messages but not necessarily coordinating with a larger network.

“Mohamed didn’t pray, didn’t go to the mosque and ate pork,” said Sadok Bouhlel, a 69-year-old retired teacher, in the driver’s hometown of Msaken, Tunisia. The uncle said he learned about the Algerian recruiter from extended family members who live in Nice.

Sadok is devastated by his nephew’s act, and doesn’t want him buried in Msaken. “He made more than 80 families grieve, and stained the reputation of our town and our country.”

Many of the dead and injured were children watching a fireworks display with their families. Cazeneuve said 59 people are still hospitalized after the attack Thursday, 29 of them in intensive care, out of 308 people injured overall.

Among the dead was an American student at from the University of California, Berkeley. The university said the FBI informed school officials that the body of 20-year-old Nicolas Leslie, from the San Diego area, had been identified. Leslie was a junior at Berkeley’s College of Natural Resources.

France held a moment of silence today to remember the victims. Thousands of people massed on the waterfront promenade where the Bastille Day celebrations became a killing field on Thursday night.

Among the mourners was Prime Minister Manuel Valls, who was loudly booed as he arrived at and left the ceremony.