Frenchman Living in Chattanooga has Tie to Paris Attacks

News 12 spoke with Nicolas Beauchef who is from Paris but is working at the Chattanooga Library as a part of an internship program, told us about his ties to what some have called a "human disaster."

"I learned that someone I knew and worked with in Strasbourg, France…got killed during the concert.

He came back to Paris, with some of his friends just to attend the concert and he got killed. It’s very emotional for me."

Beauchef said that his former co-worker had just moved away from Paris after the Charlie Hebdo attack that happened in January of this year.

Former reporter at News 12, James Mahon, was in Paris a few days before the deadly attack.

He described what the atmosphere was like prior to the attack.

"It was apparent there was some kind of tension. There was armed military personnel and they would walk around in groups of three , like a triangle, and they would mingle amongst the crowd. This wasn’t just an attack on a city..it was an attack on a culture."

Social media has played a huge roll in allowing people to follow what happened that night.

Facebook has now increased the functionality of a safety feature called "Safety Check In.”

Communications coordinator at The Company Lab, Tim Moore

"They saw so much traffic coming from the situation in Paris…There was so much uncertainty about what was happening and the conditions there they actually saw a new need for this kind of functionality."

Facebook said the tool they got inspired to create the tool in 2011 after the tsunami in Japan.

The tool allows family and friends of somewhere near a disaster or a major attack to let them know there are safe.

Despite the fears of what could happen next, Beauchef said he knows that his country will move forward.

"What happened didn’t touch France alone…it touched the whole humanity. The best way to fight back.is to carry on."