This article is from the source 'nytimes' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/19/us/nicolas-leslie-berkeley-attack-nice.html

The article has changed 2 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
American Student, Nicolas Leslie, Died in Attack in Nice, France American Student, Nicolas Leslie, Died in Attack in Nice, France
(about 9 hours later)
A 20-year-old student at the University of California, Berkeley, was among those killed Thursday night in a terrorist attack in Nice, France, the university has confirmed. LOS ANGELES — From the time he first got up on a surfboard (sometime around age 5), Nicolas Leslie seldom stood still.
The student, Nicolas Leslie, was in Nice as part of the university’s study-abroad program. He was one of 84 people killed by a man who used a 19-ton refrigerated truck to mow down victims, along with an automatic pistol. Growing up in a beach town north of San Diego, he kite surfed and scuba dived. He captained his high school debate team. He spoke fluent Italian.
“This is tragic, devastating news,” the university’s chancellor, Nicholas B. Dirks, said in a statement late Sunday. “All of us in the UC Berkeley family — both here on campus, and around the world — are heartbroken to learn that another promising young student has been lost to senseless violence. I join Nick’s parents, friends and the entire campus community in condemning this horrific attack, and in mourning the loss of one of our own.” And as a 20-year-old junior at the University of California, Berkeley, he was determined to make a future for himself in business.
Mr. Leslie, an environmental sciences major, had been planning to begin studies at the Haas School of Business in the fall. He had gone to Nice, France, for a summer entrepreneurship program, and was celebrating Bastille Day with classmates on the city’s waterfront when a man drove a 19-ton truck through the crowd, mowing down revelers. Mr. Leslie died in the attack, along with 83 others.
A vigil for Mr. Leslie is planned for 4:30 p.m. Monday at Sproul Plaza, the center of the Berkeley campus. The campus was already reeling from the death of an 18-year-old sophomore, Tarishi Jain, in a terrorist attack on a restaurant in Dhaka, Bangladesh, about two weeks ago. For days, Mr. Leslie’s whereabouts had remained unknown. He was not listed among the injured or the dead. His friends posted frantic messages on social media, searching for information about his whereabouts or condition.
Ms. Jain was an Indian citizen working on e-commerce growth at Eastern Bank Limited in Dhaka through a university internship. His parents flew to France, and learned over the weekend that Nicolas had been struck by the truck and had died instantly, his father, Conrad Leslie, said.
The attack in Nice injured several Berkeley students. Two have been treated at hospitals and released: Vladyslav Kostiuk, 23, a senior computer science major, who had a broken leg, and Diane Huang, 20, a senior majoring in environmental economics and policy, who had a broken foot. Paola Leslie, Mr. Leslie’s mother, said by telephone from France that her son had packed a life’s worth of activity into his 20 years. “It looks like he had the life of someone who lived 70 years,” she said.
The Berkeley campus had already been reeling from the death of an 18-year-old sophomore, Tarishi Jain, in a terrorist attack on a restaurant in Dhaka, Bangladesh, early this month. Ms. Jain was an Indian citizen working on e-commerce growth at Eastern Bank Limited in Dhaka through a university internship.
Nicolas Leslie was born in Italy, and his family moved to Southern California when he was a child.
Living in Del Mar, outside San Diego, he made the ocean something of a second home. By 16, he was certified as a kite surfing instructor and could do flips in the air. He kept a list of the types of sharks he saw while scuba diving — he was up to 12 — and he loved spear fishing. His father said Nicolas once wrote an academic essay on how spearing was the most sustainable way to fish.
Once, Mr. Leslie’s father said, he and his son spotted an octopus while catching lobsters. Nicolas grabbed it with his bare hands.
His father wanted him to let it go, but Nicolas had other plans — he made an octopus salad. His mother, who is from Italy, had taught him how to cook, and he would make difficult and ambitious meals.
“Anything he put his head to, he did,” his father said. “Even when he’d do tricks at kite surfing, he’d watch the video and repeat, repeat, repeat until he got it down.”
A classmate at Torrey Pines High School in San Diego County, Hunter Willoughby, said Mr. Leslie brought a liveliness and enthusiasm to everything he did, whether in class or in the water.
“Every room he was in, he brought this unparalleled energy and liveliness and charisma,” Mr. Willoughby, 20, said.
Amy Jeon remembered that same enthusiasm at her first high school debate tournament, when she was a freshman and Mr. Leslie was the team’s captain.
Though she was nervous about her performance, he told her “that he knew I would go far in Congressional Debate,” she said. “It is his warm words of encouragement that I remember.”
Initially an environmental sciences major, Mr. Leslie decided that he wanted to work in business, and was recently accepted into Berkeley’s prestigious Haas School of Business. In Nice, he was working on a product to help measure the lactic acid in athletes’ muscles, which could help coaches make decisions about player substitutions during a game, his father said.
“The only regret,” Conrad Leslie said, “is that we never got to see him find that person he loved and have a family.”
The attack in Nice wounded several Berkeley students. Two have been treated at hospitals and discharged: Vladyslav Kostiuk, 23, a senior and a computer science major, who had a broken leg, and Diane Huang, 20, a senior majoring in environmental economics and policy, who had a broken foot.
Another Berkeley student, Daryus Medora, 21, a sophomore whose leg was broken, remains in a hospital in Nice.Another Berkeley student, Daryus Medora, 21, a sophomore whose leg was broken, remains in a hospital in Nice.
Mr. Leslie was one of 85 participants in a local summer entrepreneurship program in Nice, the university said. After the attack, there was an intensive search to determine his whereabouts. The university said that the French authorities confirmed the death and notified the F.B.I., which then notified campus authorities. Around 60 Berkeley students remain in Nice, and counselors have been sent there to help them cope with their shock and grief.
Around 60 students remain in Nice, and counselors have been sent there to help them cope with their shock and grief. Two other United States citizens have been confirmed as being among those killed in the attack: Sean Copeland, 51, and his son Brodie, 11, of Lakeway, Tex.
Two other United States citizens have been confirmed as being among the 84 who were killed in the attack in Nice: Sean Copeland, 51, and his son Brodie, 11, of Lakeway, Tex.