AP / Pablo Martinez Monsivais
President Barack Obama.
"It's very important I think for us to recognize that, when it comes to dealing with terrorist activity, that Canada and the United States have to be entirely in sync," Obama said, speaking from the Oval Office.
The president cautioned, however, that it's too early to know what exactly motivated the shootings. Ottawa police have said multiple gunmen may have been involved in the incidents that left a soldier dead and multiple others injured.
"We don't have enough information yet. So as we understand better exactly what happened, this obviously is something that we'll make sure to factor in the ongoing efforts we have to counter terrorist attacks in our country. Every single day we have a whole lot of really smart, really dedicated, really hard-working people … who are monitoring risks and making sure we're that we're doing everything we need to do to protect the American people," he said.
Obama also said since he had visited the Canadian parliament, the attack affected him in a personal way.
"I'm very familiar with that area and am reminded how warmly I was received and how wonderful the people there were. So obviously we're all shaken by it," he reflected. "But we're going to do everything we can to make sure that we're standing side by side with Canada at this difficult time."