A program director for San Diego-based Thomas Jefferson School of Law reported Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas left Nice, France shortly before Thursday’s terrorist attack.
Justice Thomas was abroad teaching a program through the local law school.
Thomas Jefferson School of Law spokesman Edgar Hopida said Thomas was teaching a class as part of the school's summer program in Nice. The 68-year-old justice left on a flight Thursday morning.
A man killed at least 84 people Thursday evening when he drove a truck through a crowd celebrating Bastille Day on the promenade of the city.
More than 50 U.S. legal students including many from Thomas Jefferson School of L, are in Nice this week.
One of the students, Gabe Gallion, spoke with NBC 7 Friday and called the incident "too close to home."
He went to the beach early to watch fireworks with his roommate. On the way home from seeing the fireworks, they stopped to look at some shops.
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Approximately 10 minutes after they had left, he said they saw people running toward them.
Soon after, shop owners were yelling at them to “Get in! Get in!”
“I’ve never seen an area with thousands and thousands of people in shops and businesses clear out like I did,” Gallion told NBC 7 Friday. “It was definitely terrifying.”
In a school-wide e-mail, President and Dean Thomas F. Guernsey wrote “The latest we know is that all of our students, faculty and staff are safe. We will Keep you posted as we know more.”
Thomas agreed to participate in the program in place of Justice Antonin Scalia after Scalia's death in February.
