A terrorist attack involving a large truck — similar to the assault that killed at least 84 in Nice, France, Thursday — has been a scenario law enforcement officials in California and beyond have long analyzed.
Police have focused mostly on the possibility of terrorists packing a truck with explosives and detonating it in a crowded area.
Brian Jenkins, a counter-terrorism expert and senior advisor to the president of Rand Corp., said the danger of truck bombs has existed since the 1980s with attacks in Lebanon but have evolved over time.
“The use of trucks as a weapon [in of themselves] is a more recent scenario. Al Qaeda and ISIS have both exhorted their followers to use any means to bring death. With limited access to explosives, large vehicles into large crowds are an obvious event,” he said.
In March 2006, former University of North Carolina student Mohammed Reza Taheri-azar was accused of plowing a sports utility vehicle into nine pedestrians on the busy campus square to “avenge the deaths of Muslims” around the world, according to Times reports at the time. Several people were hurt but no one was killed.
In 2013, a man of deliberately drove his car into pedestrians on the Venice boardwalk, killing an Italian newlywed and injuring 17 others.
Nathan Louis Campbell was found guilty of second-degree murder in the death of Alice Gruppioni, an Italian tourist visiting California with her husband on their honeymoon. Campbell also was found guilty on several counts of assault with a deadly weapon and hit-and-run charges.
1/70
People place flowers on the Promenade des Anglais at the scene of Thursday’s truck attack, prior to a minute of silence in Nice, southern France, Monday, July 18, 2016, to honor the victims of the Bastille Day attack.
(Claude Paris / AP) 2/70
French soldiers patrol on the famed Promenade des Anglais in Nice, southern France, Monday, July 18, 2016.
(Francois Mori / AP) 3/70
People react after a minute of silence on the famed Promenade des Anglais in Nice, southern France, to honor the victims of an attack near the area where a truck mowed through revelers, Monday, July 18, 2016.
(Francois Mori / AP) 4/70
People gather at a makeshift memorial to observe a minute of silence to honor the victims of an attack near the area where a truck mowed through revelers on the famed Promenade des Anglais in Nice, France, on July 18, 2016.
(Luca Bruno / AP) 5/70
People observe a minute of silence at Marseille’s landmark Vieux Port on July 18, 2016, in tribute to the victims of the deadly Nice attack on Bastille Day.
(Anne-Christine Poujoulat / AFP/Getty Images) 6/70
People observe a minute of silence on July 18, 2016, in Avignon, France, in tribute to the 84 victims of the Nice truck attack.
(Boris Horvat / AFP/Getty Images) 7/70
The Hotel Negresco on the Promenade des Anglais in Nice is illuminated in the colors of France’s flag on July 17, 2016, in tribute to the victims of the Bastille Day attack.
(Valery Hache / AFP/Getty Images) 8/70
A minute of silence is held in Paris on July 18, 2016, for the victims of the Nice attack.
(Jeremy Lempin / EPA) 9/70
French Socialist party first secretary Jean-Christophe Cambadelis and party members observe a minute of silence on July 18, 2016, in Paris in tribute to the 84 victims of the Nice truck attack.
(Jacques Demarthon / AFP/Getty Images) 10/70
A woman lights a candle on a makeshift memorial after people observed a minute of silence in Strasbourg, France, on July 18, 2016, in tribute to the victims of the deadly Nice attack on Bastille Day.
(Frederick Florin / AFP/Getty Images) 11/70
Two men hold a flower wreath as people gather to observe a minute silence on the Promenade des Anglais in Nice on July 18, 2016, in tribute to victims of the deadly Nice attack on Bastille Day.
(Valery Hache / AFP/Getty Images) 12/70
A man looks at a tribute laying on a bench near where a person was killed on the Promenade des Anglais on July 17, 2016 in Nice, France.
(David Ramos / Getty Images) 13/70
Members of the public gather at a makeshift memorial on the Promenade des Anglais in Nice, France, on July 17, 2016, in tribute to the victims of the Bastille Day attack that left 84 dead.
(Valery Hache / AFP/Getty Images) 14/70
Unidentified harpists perform at a makeshift memorial to honor the victims of an attack near the area where a truck mowed through revelers on the famed Promenade des Anglais in Nice, France, on July 17, 2016.
(Luca Bruno / AP) 15/70
French soldiers patrol on the famed Promenade des Anglais in Nice, France, three days after a truck mowed through revelers July 17, 2016.
(Francois Mori / AP) 16/70
A painting with the colors of the French flag covers the asphalt near a makeshift memorial to honor the victims three days after a truck mowed through revelers on the famed Promenade des Anglais in Nice, France, on July 17, 2016.
(Francois Mori / AP) 17/70
“Assassin” is written on the asphalt on the place where the slain attacker was stopped by police on the famed Promenade des Anglais three days after the truck mowed through revelers in Nice, France, on July 17, 2016.
(Francois Mori / AP) 18/70
A couple watch flowers placed in tribute to one of the victims at the scene of a deadly attack while joggers pass by, on the famed Boulevard des Anglais in Nice, southern France, Sunday, July 17, 2016.
(Laurent Cipriani / AP) 19/70
A police officer surveys people gathering around a floral tribute for the victims killed during a deadly attac, on the famed Boulevard des Anglais in Nice, France, on July 17, 2016.
(Laurent Cipriani / AP) 20/70
An agent of the Civil Protection comforts a woman outside Pasteur hospital in the French riviera town of Nice on July 16, 2016, after the July 14 truck attack that killed 84 people on France’s national holiday.
(Anne-Christine Poujoulat / AFP/Getty Images) 21/70
People walk on the Promenade des Anglais next to flowers left as a tribute to victims of the Bastille day deadly attack on July 17, 2016 in Nice.
(Anne-Christine Poujoulat / AFP/Getty Images) 22/70
People look at the beach and the Promenade des Anglais in the French riviera city of Nice on July 17, 2016, three days after the deadly Bastille Day attack.
(Valery Hache / AFP/Getty Images) 23/70
French police walk next to a makeshift memorial placed on the road for victims of the deadly Bastille Day attack on July 17, 2016 in Nice.
(Anne-Christine Poujoulat / AFP/Getty Images) 24/70
Crowds gather at a makeshift memorial for victims of the deadly Bastille Day attack on the Promenade des Anglais in Nice on July 16, 2016.
(Valery Hache / AFP/Getty Images) 25/70
An unidentified man, wounded in the truck attack, leaves the Pasteur hospital in Nice, southern France, Saturday, July 16, 2016. The man responsible for turning a night of celebration into one of carnage in the seaside city of Nice was a petty criminal who hadn’t been on the radar of French intelligence services before the attack.(AP Photo/Claude Paris)
(Claude Paris / AP) 26/70
A man who lost his wife during the deadly Nice attack on Bastille Day screams out in front of the Pasteur hospital July 16, 2016, after finding out his son has also died.
(Anne-Christine Poujoulat / AFP/Getty Images) 27/70
Flowers are placed on July 16, 2016, at the locations along the famed Promenade des Anglais where victims of the truck attack in Nice suffered.
(Francois Mori / AP) 28/70
Flowers are placed on July 16, 2016, at the locations along the famed Promenade des Anglais where victims of the truck attack in Nice suffered.
(Giuseppe Cacace/ AFP/Getty Images) 29/70
Tour de France riders observe a moment of silence for the victims of the Nice attacks, prior to the start of the 14th stage of the 103rd edition of the cycling race July 16, 2016, between Montelimar and Villars-les-Dombes Parc des Oiseaux, France.
(Jeff Pachoud / AFP/Getty Images) 30/70
Sunbathing chairs sit empty on the beach as a coastguard vessel patrols offshore on the Promenade des Anglais on July 16, 2016, in Nice, France, two days after a truck steered into a crowd along the city’s promenade and killed dozens during a Bastille Day gathering.
(Carl Court / Getty Images) 31/70
A police officer asks beachgoers to leave the beach of the Promenade des Anglais near the scene of a truck attack in Nice, France, on July 16, 2016.
(Luca Bruno / AP) 32/70
Beachgoers take in the sun as a French gendarmerie boat patrols off the coast of Nice on July 16, 2016, two days after the deadly truck attack.
(Boris Horvat / AFP/Getty Images) 33/70
The name of Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel is seen on the intercom of his apartment building on July 16, 2016, in Nice. The French-Tunisian man killed more than 80 people as he drove a truck through crowds gathered to watch a firework display during a Bastille Day celebration.
(David Ramos / Getty Images) 34/70
Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel’s apartment is seen through the keyhole on July 16, 2016, in Nice, France.
(David Ramos / Getty Images) 35/70
The Eiffel Tower illuminated in the colors of the French national flag in Paris on July 15, 2016.
(Christophe Petit Tesson / EPA) 36/70
The Penshaw Monument is illuminated in the colors of the French flag on July 15, 2016, near Sunderland, northeast England.
(Scott Heppell / AFP/Getty Images) 37/70
A sign reading, “I am Charlie, I am Bataclan, I am Nice, long live the Republic, long live France,” next to a candle and roses in Strasbourg, eastern France, on July 15, 2016, a day after a man steered a truck through a crowd celebrating Bastille Day in Nice, France.
(AFP/Getty Images) 38/70
As night falls, people gather in front of the memorial set on the Promenade des Anglais, on July 15, 2016, where a truck crashed into the crowd during the Bastille Day celebrations Thursday night.
(Ian Langsdon / EPA) 39/70
A woman cries as people gather in front of a memorial July 15, 2016, on the Promenade des Anglais in Nice, France.
(Ian Langsdon / EPA) 40/70
A woman sits under French flags lowered at half-staff in Nice on July 15, 2016, a day after the deadly Bastille Day attack.
(Giuseppe Cacace / AFP/Getty Images) 41/70
People react as they gather at a makeshift memorial to pay tribute to the victims of an attack in the French Riviera city of Nice on July 15, 2016. The day before, man rammed a truck through a crowd celebrating Bastille Day, killing at least 84 people.
(Valery Hache / AFP/Getty Images) 42/70
A doll sits next to a French flag and tributes to the victims of an attack on the Promenade des Anglais on July 15, 2016, in Nice, France.
(Carl Court / Getty Images) 43/70
People lay flowers at a memorial in Nice on July 15, 2016, to pay tribute to the victims the day after a man smashed a truck into a crowd of revelers celebrating Bastille Day, killing at least 84 people.
(Anne-Christine Poujoulet / AFP/Getty Images) 44/70
Parents of victims embrace each other near the scene of a truck attack in Nice, southern France, on July 15, 2016.
(Luca Bruno / AP) 45/70
A woman reacts as she places flowers in front of the memorial set on the Promenade des Anglais where a truck struck down revelers during a Bastille Day celebration in Nice, France, on July 15, 2016.
(Ian Langsdon / EPA) 46/70
A police officer stands guard as the truck that was driven by a man through a crowd celebrating Bastille Day is towed away July 15, 2016, in the French Riviera city of Nice.
(Boris Horvat / AFP/Getty Images) 47/70
Police secure the area on July 15, 2016, where a truck drove into a crowd during Bastille Day celebrations Thursday night in Nice, France.
(Andreas Gebert / EPA) 48/70
Forensic police officers work July 15, 2016, on the truck that plowed into crowds in Nice, southern France, the day before.
(Claude Paris / AP) 49/70
Crime scene investigators work on the Promenade des Anglais on July 15, 2016, a day after a truck steered into the crowd during a Bastille Day celebration in Nice, France.
(Olivier Anrigo / EPA) 50/70
French gendarmes walk past clothes and mattresses at the site of the deadly attack the day before on the Promenade des Anglais seafront in the French Riviera city of Nice on July 15, 2016.
(Valery Hache / AFP/Getty Images) 51/70
A crime scene investigator works on the truck on July 15, 2016, that struck down revelers the day before during a Bastille Day celebration in Nice, France.
(Ian Langsdon / EPA) 52/70
Bicycles, a shoe and sheets lay at the scene July 15, 2016, where a truck struck down revelers in Nice, southern France, the day before.
(Francois Mori / AP) 53/70
Forensics officers and police look for evidence near a truck on the Promenade des Anglais seafront in the French Riviera town of Nice on July 15, 2016, the day after it was driven into a crowd, killing scores.
(Valery Hache / AFP/Getty Images) 54/70
Police investigators inspect the scene on July 15, 2016, where a truck crashed late Thursday into the crowd during the Bastille Day celebrations in Nice, France.
(Alberto Estevez / EPA) 55/70
Police officers work near the truck on July 15, 2016, that struck revelers in Nice, France, on July 14 during Bastille Day celebrations.
(Francois Mori / AP) 56/70
A body is moved from the Promenade des Anglais seafront in the French Riviera city of Nice on July 15, 2016, the day after a truck smashed into a crowd of revelers celebrating Bastille Day, killing scores.
(Boris Horvat / AFP/Getty Images) 57/70
A forensic expert examines dead bodies on the Promenade des Anglais in the French Riviera city of Nice on July 15, 2016, a day after a truck smashed into a crowd of revelers celebrating Bastille Day, killing scores.
(Boris Horvat / AFP/Getty Images) 58/70
Guards at the Elysee presidential palace in Paris set the French flag at half-staff on July 15, 2016.
(Christophe Petit Tesson / EPA) 59/70
European flags hang at half-staff in front of the European Commission building in Brussels on July 15, 2016, following the attack in Nice.
(Stephanie Lecocq/ EPA) 60/70
Forensic officers on July 15, 2016, near a truck, its windshield riddled with bullet holes, that plowed through a crowd of revelers celebrating Bastille Day in the French resort city of Nice, southern France, the day before.
(Claude Paris / AP) 61/70
Emergency teams assist a woman injured in the attack as they evacuate the scene where a truck crashed into the crowd during a Bastille Day celebration in Nice, France, on July 14, 2016.
(Olivier Anrigo / EPA) 62/70
Police officers and rescue workers stand near a truck that plowed into a crowd leaving a fireworks display in the French Riviera town of Nice on July 14, 2016.
(Valery Hache / AFP/Getty Images) 63/70
People react in Nice, France, after a truck drove into a crowd watching a Bastille Day fireworks display on July 14, 2016.
(Valery Hache / AFP/Getty Images) 64/70
Police officers and a soldier stand July 15, 2016, by the sealed-off area of an attack, where a truck drove onto the sidewalk and plowed through a crowd of revelers who had gathered to watch the Bastille Day fireworks in Nice, France, the night before.
(Ciaran Fahey / AP) 65/70
Rescue workers help an injured woman into an ambulance on July 15, 2016, after a truck drove into a crowd watching a fireworks display in the French Riviera town of Nice the night before.
(Valery Hache / AFP/Getty Images) 66/70
Soldiers, police officers and firefighters walk near victims covered with blue sheets on the Promenade des Anglais in the French Riviera town of Nice, on July 14, 2016, after a truck drove into a crowd.
(Valery Hache / AFP/Getty Images) 67/70
Police officers perform vehicle checks in the French Riviera town of Nice after a truck drove into a crowd leaving a Bastille Day fireworks display on July 14, 2016.
(Valery Hache / AFP/Getty Images) 68/70
Police officers perform vehicle checks in the French Riviera town of Nice after a truck drove into a crowd leaving a Bastille Day fireworks display on July 14, 2016.
(Valery Hache / AFP/Getty Images) 69/70
Police officers and rescue workers arrive at the scene of an attack July 14, 2016, after a van plowed into a crowd leaving a fireworks display in the French Riviera town of Nice.
(Valery Hache / AFP/Getty Images) 70/70
Fireworks explode over the French Riviera city of Nice as part of an annual Bastille Day celebration July 14, 2016. Dozens of people are dead after a truck plowed into a crowd following the fireworks display.
(Valery Hache / AFP/Getty Images) Upset after a botched effort to buy drugs, Campbell got into his Dodge Avenger and decided to jump a curb, maneuver past barriers meant to block vehicle access and plow through the packed boardwalk, authorities alleged.
Since Timothy McVeigh used a Ryder rental truck packed with ammonia nitrate to attack a federal building in Oklahoma City in 1995, counter-terrorism officials have run a terror scenario with trucks at downtown L.A., Los Angeles International Airport and the Port of Los Angeles.
“Trucks have been on the radar screen since Oklahoma City and even before with first World Trade Center attack in 1993,” said Brian Levin, a counter-terrorism expert at Cal State San Bernardino. “Authorities were mostly concerned that a truck would be a bed for explosives and not so much running over people.”
Levin, however, added that Israel has seen cases of terrorists using trucks to run over people.
A decade ago, the LAPD discussed a terrorism scenario in which a fuel truck would be used in an attack.
Jenkins said a typical fuel tanker carries at least 9,000 gallons of gasoline, and they make up 90% of hazardous materials on our roads. He said during a study for Manetta Transportation Institute, he found these to be most deadly threat among dangerous cargoes.
“Large vehicles and trucks have always been a concern especially from the stand point of vehicle bombs,” said Los Angeles Police Cmdr. Horace Frank, a veteran counter-terrorism specialist.
Frank noted the case in 2003 in which an elderly man accidentally plowed his car into a crowd at the Santa Monica Farmer’s Market, killing 10 people. That case showed how “vehicle can be deadly in a crowd,” he said.
