What to Know
- A man pleaded not guilty to attempted murder Monday in connection with the weekend shooting of three college students of Palestinian descent in Vermont — an attack that is being investigated as a possible hate crime.
- The three young men were shot and injured Saturday while walking near the University of Vermont campus. Forty-eight-year-old Jason Eaton was arrested Sunday and made a brief court appearance from jail Monday.
- One of the injured students is Haverford College junior Kinnan Abdalhamid.
A student who attends college on the Main Line of the Philadelphia suburbs was one of three students of Palestinian descent shot near the University of Vermont over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, police said Sunday.
The three young men were in Burlington for a Thanksgiving holiday gathering when they were shot and injured — one seriously — police said.
Haverford College student injured
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Haverford College posted a message on social media confirming that one of their students, junior Kinnan Abdalhamid, was with two of his lifelong friends when they were shot.
Abdalhamid's family is overseas, so a Haverford dean was traveling Monday to be with him in Vermont, the university said.
A joint statement from the families of all three victims was put on social media by the Institute for Middle East Understanding that identified the other victims as Hisham Awartani and Tahseen Ali Ahmad.
The three men had been staying at Awartani’s grandmother’s house for Thanksgiving, Awartani told police. They had gone bowling earlier Saturday and were returning when a man walked up to them, pulled out a gun and started shooting, he said.
A second victim told police he saw a man staring at them from the porch of a white house. Abdalhamid told police that the man stumbled down the stairs and pulled out a pistol.
Rich Price, Awartani’s uncle, said the gunman “shot them without saying any words.”
Arrest made hours after shooting
Agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives arrested Jason J. Eaton, 48, while conducting a search of the shooting area in Burlington at 3:38 p.m. Sunday, the Burlington Police Department said in a statement.
Authorities collected evidence during a search of Eaton’s apartment in a building in front of the shooting location.
According to a police affidavit, federal agents found a shotgun in Eaton’s apartment. He refused to identify himself but told the officers he had been waiting for them.
Eaton appeared in court Monday by video from jail, speaking only to confirm his identity. His attorney entered pleas of not guilty to three counts of attempted murder on his behalf, and a judge ordered him held without bail pending a hearing that likely will be held in the next few days.
“We as human beings hope that the people who were shot recover quickly and completely," Margaret Jansch, an attorney for Eaton, said to reporters after his arraignment, according to NBC News.
Jansch and Sarah Varty, attorneys with the Office of the Defender General in Vermont, declined to comment on conversations they've had with Eaton and didn't reveal his religious affiliation.
Jansch said it would be "premature for us to speculate" if the shooting could be charged as a hate crime.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations released a statement offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest or conviction of the person or people responsible for the shootings.
It was unclear if the reward led to the arrest.
Gunman opens fire without saying a word, police say
The attack that injured the three men around 6:25 p.m. Saturday may have been a hate crime, authorities previously said.
Two of the men were in stable condition and the other suffered “much more serious injuries,” Burlington Police Chief Jon Murad said in a statement Sunday. The three, all age 20, were walking on Prospect Street during a visit to the home of one of the victim's relatives when they were confronted by a white man with a handgun, police said.
“Without speaking, he discharged at least four rounds from the pistol and is believed to have fled,” Murad said. “All three victims were struck, two in their torsos and one in the lower extremities.”
The victims are all of Palestinian descent. Two are U.S. citizens and the third is a legal resident. Two of the men were wearing the black-and-white Palestinian keffiyeh scarves, Murad said.
Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger is expected to join Murad at a news conference Monday to discuss the investigation.
Murad, who expressed sympathies for the victims and their families, said there is no additional information to suggest a motive.
“In this charged moment, no one can look at this incident and not suspect that it may have been a hate-motivated crime. And I have already been in touch with federal investigatory and prosecutorial partners to prepare for that if it’s proven,” he said.
“The fact is that we don’t yet know as much as we want to right now,” Murad added. "But I urge the public to avoid making conclusions based on statements from uninvolved parties who know even less.”
The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee released a statement Sunday saying that the victims were Palestinian American college students and that there is “reason to believe this shooting occurred because the victims are Arab.”
A man shouted and harassed the victims, who were conversing in Arabic, then proceeded to shoot them, the committee's statement said.
The FBI in Albany, New York, posted a statement late Sunday on X, formerly Twitter, saying the bureau is actively investigating the shooting with the Burlington Police Department, the ATF and other federal, state and local agencies.
The White House said President Joe Biden was briefed on the shooting and would continue to receive law enforcement updates.
Attorney General Merrick Garland said Monday the Justice Department is investigating whether the shooting was a hate crime. The FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are assisting Vermont authorities in the investigation.
There has been a sharp increase in threats directed against Jewish, Muslim, and Arab communities across the U.S. since the Israel-Hamas war began, he said. “There is understandable fear in communities across the country,” Garland said.
Reactions from family, politicians and organizations
The "devastated" parents said their children were "targeted and shot" in the Institute for Middle East Understanding statement.
“We are extremely concerned about the safety and well-being of our children,” the statement said. “We call on law enforcement to conduct a thorough investigation, including treating this as a hate crime. We will not be comfortable until the shooter is brought to justice."
“Violence of any kind against any person in our community is totally unacceptable and we will do everything in our power to find the perpetrator and hold them fully accountable. That there is an indication this shooting could have been motivated by hate is chilling, and this possibility is being prioritized in the BPD’s investigation. The City of Burlington has zero tolerance for hate crimes and will work relentlessly to bring the shooter to justice” Mayor Miro Weinberger said.
Many have taken to social media and released statements to denounce the shooting.
“It is shocking and deeply upsetting that three young Palestinians were shot here in Burlington, VT. Hate has no place here, or anywhere. I look forward to a full investigation," Sen. Bernie Sanders, the Vermont Independent, said in a statement.
Gov. Phil Scott called it a tragedy, calling on the state's residents to unite and “not let this incident incite more hate or divisiveness.”
The Vermont-New Hampshire chapter of Jewish Voice For Peace, which has urged an end to the Israel-Hamas war, released a statement saying it was “appalled by the shooting.”
“We are in solidarity with the students, their families and all those affected by this clear act of hate,” the organization said Sunday.
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