I wouldn’t expect that from anyone who lives near Buffalo; I’ve been there, and it looks too much like Newark NJ for me to let down my guard.
Usually these attacks occur when war parties leave the welfare reservations to raid along the frontier (in areas where they are rarely seen); maybe that was the case here. In my town the local militia (town cops) would have been all over this as soon as 3 were spotted together; everybody knows the dangers of living on the frontier, and they maintain the local cavalry to deal with just this type of raid.
I honestly think people doubt their gut because it would make them racist to have the fear—so they ignore it.