- Jason J. Eaton, a 48-year-old Caucasian male, has been arrested in Burlington, Vermont, as a suspect in the shooting of three Palestinian college students, including two wearing keffiyahs.
- The FBI is actively investigating the incident, with the Arab American Anti-Discrimination Committee urging federal authorities to consider the attack as a hate crime.
At 6:30 am on Saturday, Burlington, Vermont, Jason J. Eaton, a 48-year-old white male, was arrested on suspicion for shooting three Palestinian college students. The students were reported to be speaking Arabic at the time; two of whom were wearing keffiyahs during the incident.
Eaton was arrested near the scene, and a search of his nearby apartment provided probable cause linking him to the shooting, according to Burlington police. Scheduled for arraignment tomorrow, Eaton is accused of firing four rounds at the victims without uttering any words.
The suspect pleaded not guilty, and his mother asserts that he is grappling with mental health challenges.
Identified as Hisham Awartani, Kinnan Abdalhamid, and Tahseen Ahmed by their families, these students attend Brown University in Rhode Island, Haverford College in Pennsylvania, and Trinity College in Connecticut, respectively.
The president of Brown University expects Awartani to recover after being shot in the spine.
Haverford College confirmed Abdalhamid sustained minor injuries and Trinity College’s president stated that Ahmed was shot in the chest and is now also in stable condition.
Pictured: Hisham Awartani in recovery
The FBI, alongside local agencies, is actively investigating the incident, having allocated resources for computer and mobile phone analysis.
The Arab American Anti-Discrimination Committee has urged federal law enforcement to treat the attack as a hate crime, emphasising the need for public cooperation in providing information regarding the incident.
