The gunfire that killed a soldier in Ottawa, Canada Wednesday, has unnerved a lot of people in that community, including the family of a local woman.
Sarah Burns is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at RIT.
Burns grew up in Ottawa, and her parents still live there. She says the shooting that also left the suspected gunman dead in Wednesday’s attack near Parliament, shook up a lot of people including her family members.
“I think they are dramatically more worried and my concern is that the kind of militarization of the police that we see in the United States may now come to Canada because of the concerns associated with this attack, ” Burns told WXXI News.
As far as a terror threat is concerned, Burns realizes that could happen anywhere, but doesn’t think people in her hometown will have the same kind of worries that residents of some major U.S. cities have.
“I don’t think this will make Canadians feel as if they have the same concerns about the threat of terrorism. At the same time I think that it will probably increase support for fighting terrorism abroad.”
Burns does expect to see security tightened up in Ottawa and other Canadian cities, especially when it comes to guarding top government officials.
