The mayor of Strathroy says residents of Strathroy-Caradoc should have great confidence in the safety and security their community has to offer.
Mayor Joanne Vanderheyden issued a statement Thursday after a suspected terrorist was killed in a police action in the town Wednesday.
“In response to this complicated situation, it is important for our community to maintain perspective,” says Vanderheyden. "The actions of the lone suspect involved in this plot do not reflect the values of our community.”
The mayor also commends law enforcement for averting a significant threat to public safety.
Vanderheyden says the municipality is cooperating with the police and authorities in responding to this incident and will offer its full support to all who have been impacted.
Lambton-Kent-Middlesex MP Bev Shipley says having an incident like this happen in his riding is very unsettling.
"People tend to think this kind of incident only happens in large urban areas but the reality is it can happen anywhere," says Shipley. "I very much appreciate, as I think everyone will, the thoroughness and quickness in which the security, RCMP, local police and everyone reacted to contain it and deal with it."
Shipley says he can guarantee the people of Strathroy will be very unnerved for awhile wondering how this happened in the family orientated community.
Acting on an FBI tip, 24-year-old Aaron Driver was killed in a confrontation with police at a home on Park St. late Wednesday afternoon.
Several Strathroy residents said they were stunned to learn that a man believed to be a terror sympathizer had been living in their midst.
Neighbours say they should have been warned the man had moved to their town.
- With files from The Canadian Press
