Suspect, 48, is arrested in shooting of three Vermont Palestinian college students – as cops launch hate crime investigation

A man has been arrested over the shooting of three Palestinian students in Vermont, as one’s life hangs in the balance. Police said they believe it was a hate crime.

Jason J. Eaton, 48, was arrested Sunday afternoon at the scene of Saturday’s attack and is expected to appear in court Monday, Burlington police announced.

They say he lives in an apartment building nearby Hisham Awartani, Kinnan Abdelhamid and Tahseen Ahmed were shot coming home from a Thanksgiving dinner at Awartani’s grandmother’s house.

Two of the men were wearing keffiyeh scarves and were all speaking a mixture of English and Arabic when the suspect approached them.

“On Sunday afternoon, ATF agents conducting an investigation at the scene of the shooting encountered and arrested Jason J. Easton,” Burlington police said in a statement last night.

“Detectives have executed a search warrant for Mr. Easton’s residence in the apartment building in front of which the shooting occurred.

“Evidence collected during that search warrant and additional evidence developed during the course of this investigation gave investigators and prosecutors probable cause to believe that Mr. Easton committed the shooting.”

In an earlier statement, police said the three 20-year-olds were walking along Prospect Street “when they were confronted by a white male with a gun.”

“The suspect was in the area on foot. Without saying anything, he fired at least four rounds and is believed to have fled on foot,” Burlington Police Chief Jon Murad explained.

“At this charged moment, no one can look at this incident and not suspect that it was a hate-motivated crime,” he added.

I have already been in contact with federal investigative and prosecutorial partners to prepare for that if it is proven.”

Abdelhamid, a student at Haverford College in Pennsylvania, suffered minor injuries in the attack.

But Awartani was shot near the spine and has lost feeling in his legs, said his great-uncle Marwan Awartani, a former Palestinian Authority education minister.

Ahmed, a student at Trinity College in Connecticut, was shot in the chest and his condition is touch and go, according to Abed A. Ayoub, the national executive director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee.

“They did what millions of other students did this weekend: get away for the holidays and reconnect with friends and family,” he added.

“Given the information gathered and provided, it is clear that hatred was a motivating factor in this shooting.

‘We call on the police to investigate this as such. The wave of anti-Arab and anti-Palestinian sentiment we are experiencing is unprecedented, and this is yet another example of that hatred turning violent.”

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said it had seen a threefold increase in reports of anti-Arab and anti-Islamic bias incidents in the month following the Hamas attack that killed more than 1,200 people on October 7.

Chicago landlord Joseph M. Czuba, 71, shouted “you Muslims must die” before fatally stabbing 6-year-old Palestinian-American boy Wadea Al-Fayoume and wounding his 32-year-old mother on Oct. 8.

In a joint statement, the family of the three 20-year-olds said: “As parents, we are devastated by the horrific news that our children were targeted and shot.

“We won’t feel comfortable until the shooter is brought to justice. We must ensure that our children are protected, and that this heinous crime is not repeated.”

When officers arrived on scene, they found three people with gunshot wounds.

Murad said two victims at one location were treated on scene by the Burlington Fire Department before being taken to the University of Vermont Medical Center. The third victim was found a short distance away and taken to hospital.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations is offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the gunman.

“Due to the unprecedented spike in anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian hatred and violence we have witnessed in recent weeks, local, state and national law enforcement authorities should investigate a possible partisan motive for the shooting of these three young men,” says the executive. director Nihad Awad said in a statement.

Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger said police would “work relentlessly to bring the shooter to justice.”

“We will do everything in our power to find the perpetrator and hold him fully accountable,” he added.

“The fact that there are indications that this shooting could have been motivated by hate is chilling.”

The group’s alma mater Ramallah Friends School in the occupied West Bank confirmed in a Facebook statement that all three had been students there.

“Haverford junior Kinnan Abdel Hamid is recovering from a gunshot wound at a hospital in Burlington, VT, after he and two of his lifelong friends were shot near the University of Vermont by an unknown assailant,” Haverford University said.

“Police are investigating the shooting and we are awaiting word on whether it will be prosecuted as a hate crime.”

Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont tweeted that it was “deeply disturbing that three young Palestinians were shot here in Burlington, Vermont.

‘Hate belongs here and nowhere. I look forward to a full investigation.”