Roger Williams student in London: “I almost brought my family over there today.”
By Kirsten Glavin
@kirstenglavin
LONDON, UK – For Alexa Samuels, 21, of Mansfield, Massachusetts, the decision to take her parents shopping on Oxford Street, Wednesday afternoon, may have saved them all from experiencing a terrorist attack.
"I almost brought my family over there today… and I can’t imagine having been right there,” said Samuels in a FaceTime interview with ABC6 that evening. “It could have happened to anybody."
Samuels, a junior, is studying Marketing and Communications at Roger Williams University. She crossed the pond in January to study for a semester at the University of Westminster.
She explained her parents were visiting the day the attack happened. She met them at the airport in the morning, and in the afternoon, saw an article on her phone that warned of an attack just yards from parliament.
"It really just shows how anything can happen so suddenly,” said Samuels. "There was definitely an increased police presence. I saw a lot of officers in groups of two."
The attack left five dead, including the attacker, and more than 40 injured. Parliament was placed on temporary lockdown after a man drove a car along a sidewalk and then stabbed a police officer.
Kevin DeJesus Ph.D., a professor at Johnson And Wales University, explained Wednesday that parliament buildings have been known targets for terrorists in the past.
"Symbolism is hugely important in terrorism,” he said. With the location in a tourist hot-spot, Westminster draws world-wide attention.
"The ripple effect has a huge impact beyond the four people that lost their lives and those that were injured."
Samuels was an example, marking herself "Safe," on Facebook that afternoon to let friends and family at home know she was okay.
"I’m just glad to be safe and healthy with my family,” said Samuels.
