NICE, France - French officials say 84 people are dead after a truck drove into a large crowd in the town of Nice during Bastille Day celebrations.

Witnesses say that after running over people, the driver got out of the truck and started shooting bystanders. The unidentified suspect was killed in a shootout with police.

"We heard these sounds pop..pop..pop...pop, I don't know how man," Eric Drattell told CNN. "And then we saw people jumping from the promenade anglais to the corrugated metal roof."

"I was walking among bodies. Dead bodies," Maryam Violet explains. "And wounded people and families of those people just gathering around those bodies."

Police searched the truck and found firearms, grenades and other explosives. Anti-terror prosecutors have taken over the investigation to determine who's responsible for the attack. 

Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards released a statement on the attack Thursday night. It reads: 

"For the French people, today is about unity.  Louisiana and France have, perhaps, one of the oldest and strongest bonds.  Our culture is shaped by this historic relationship, and the peace and security of both of our nations are intertwined.  There is no question about it - we stand firmly behind the people of France in the wake of this unconscionable act of hate and terrorism.  There is no place for it. Donna and I join the people of Louisiana in sending our thoughts, prayers, and support to the French people as they make sense of a second deplorable act of terrorism in less than one year. Louisiana and this nation have had a week of tragedy, but even in the wake of our own sadness, we stand united against terrorism and in solidarty with the people of France."

45 LSU students are studying abroad in Lyon, France and some of them were in Nice at the time of the attack, but a spokesperson from the university told News 2 that all students are safe and accounted for.