Mother of Palestinian shot in Vermont reveals he is trying to understand ‘what it means to be safe in America’ after he was attacked yards from his granny’s home

The mother of a Palestinian student shot in Vermont has said her son is struggling with what it now means to be “safe in America” ​​after he was attacked in the street near his family’s home.

Hisham Awartani, Kinnan Abdel Hamid and Tahseen Ahmed were visiting Awartani’s grandmother when they were shot on Saturday afternoon. The three friends had known each other since they went to school together in the West Bank.

The trio, dressed in keffiyehs, had finished bowling and went for a walk when they were shot by a man who did not say a word to them, according to family members.

Awartani’s mother, Elizabeth Price, said it’s a miracle the men are still alive after the shooting – revealing her shock as it happened in an area where the entire community knows her son, who attends Brown University.

Jason James Eaton, 48, the suspected shooter, pleaded not guilty Monday.

Price told NBC: ‘The short-term shock is now evolving into something more complex as he tries to map out who he is in the world and what it means to be safe in America, especially when you get shot in the street from your grandma’s house he’s actually there grew up with.

“It’s a very easy place to be. You’re sitting on the porch, people walk by and they talk to you. And they know us – the whole community knows us.

“He’s been going there since he was 8 or maybe 10. So if that’s taken away from him, I don’t know what that means for the boys and their ability to function normally.

“He pulled out a gun and shot at them, without saying anything, and then left.

“Hisham fell to the ground and he didn’t realize he had been shot. He felt no pain. He didn’t know what was going on, but he called the police.’

She said her son was afraid the shooter would return.

The mother added: ‘It’s a miracle they’re all still alive. These bullets should have ended their lives.”

Speaking about her son, she said: “He is just a joy. He’s a pleasure to talk to, and he’s a fascinating young man, and he has a lot of potential.

“I believe in him because I believe in his ability to see and be enriched by the world and be excited by the world no matter what.”

Suspect Eaton pleaded not guilty today to three counts of attempted murder.

The 48-year-old was a full-time sales assistant for CUSO Financial Services in Williston, but he was fired on Nov. 8.

He worked at the company for less than a year before being fired for unknown reasons.

While still employed, he described his role on his professional social media page with the phrase “laying down my life for my friends.”

Elisabeth Rutledge, a spokeswoman for the company, told the Boston Globe: “We are shocked by the shooting and are cooperating with law enforcement authorities as they investigate.”

Burlington Police Chief Jon Murad said investigators believe Eaton moved to Burlington after previously living in Syracuse.

His work history is primarily in New York State. According to his social media, he worked as an assistant scout for a cub troop until 2021.

The Boy Scouts said in a statement: “Mr. Eaton’s alleged actions do not reflect Scouting’s values.

“Upon learning of his arrest, he was prohibited from registering with Scouting in any capacity and will be proactively placed on the Volunteer Screening Database, which will permanently prevent his registration or participation in the future.”

Eaton received no awards or accolades during his time as a scout – and there were no complaints about him during his time with the organization.

He is also a part-time farmer who describes himself as a “radical” libertarian on the “ADHD spectrum.”

Eaton’s shocked mother Mary Reed recounted The everyday beast he has had his ‘struggles’ in the past, but nothing indicated that he was capable of such violence.

She said he is a “very religious” person but that he seemed normal when she spent Thanksgiving with him on Thursday, two days before the shooting.

‘He thinks, like all of us, that the world is a mess. He is a spiritual person,” she said.

‘Jason has had a lot of problems in his life, but he is such a kind and loving person.

“I’m just shocked by the whole thing,” she said.

Eaton once attended the University of Idaho, but did not complete his degrees in natural resource ecology and conservation biology.

On his LinkedIn he wrote the Bible verse: ‘For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also, Matthew 6:21.’

Prosecutors said there is not yet enough evidence to charge Eaton with a hate crime, and they do not yet know what his motive was.