The White House said Wednesday it was too early to characterize a shooting at the Canadian parliament as terrorism, and said the Obama administration has offered assistance to Canadian authorities.
White House press secretary Josh Earnest said “the details about the nature of this event are still sketchy.”
“I’m not in a position to render a judgment” on whether it was a terrorist act, Mr. Earnest told reporters. “We’re obviously in the very early stages of determining what exactly happened.”
But he said the shooting was “sad news” and that “the thoughts and prayers of everyone here at the White House” go out to the victims and their families. The shootings left at least one person, a soldier, dead.
President Obama was briefed about the shootings by his counter-terrorism adviser, Lisa Monaco, in the Oval Office Wednesday morning.
The White House said Mr. Obama spoke to Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper by phone around 1:30 p.m. about the shootings.
“Canada is one of the closest friends and allies of the United States,” Mr. Earnest said. “The United States strongly values that relationship.” He noted Canada’s help with the administration on everything from the NATO alliance to fighting the Islamic State terrorists to the international response to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa.
Mr. Earnest said the U.S. terror threat status is unchanged for the moment, in spite of the attack in Canada. There were no visible extra security precautions at the White House Wednesday.
• Dave Boyer can be reached at dboyer@washingtontimes.com.
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