Suspect pleads innocent in shooting of 3 students
BURLINGTON, Vt. — Three college students of Palestinian descent out for a walk in Vermont were seriously injured over the weekend when a man shot them at close range on a city street — an attack being investigated as a possible hate crime, authorities said Monday.
Jason J. Eaton, 48, made his initial court appearance by video from jail on three counts of attempted murder, and a plea of innocent was entered on his behalf Monday. He was ordered held without bail.
The U.S. Department of Justice, along with state law enforcement agencies, were investigating whether Saturday’s shooting was a hate crime amid an increase in threats against Jewish, Muslim and Arab communities across the U.S. since the Israel-Hamas war began, Attorney General Merrick Garland said. “There is understandable fear in communities across the country,” he said.
The three men, all age 20, were spending their Thanksgiving break in Burlington and were out for a walk while visiting one of the victims’ relatives when they were confronted by a white man with a handgun, police said.
“They stated that the person had not made any comments to them and had merely approached them while they were walking down the street, essentially minding their own business,” Burlington Police Chief Jon Murad told reporters.
Two of the men were struck in their torsos, while one was hit in the lower extremities, Murad said. All three were being treated at the University of Vermont Medical Center. One faces a long recovery because of a spinal injury, a family member said.
“I’ve been with them almost constantly since Saturday evening. I’ve been listening to them talk to one another and try to process the events, and I’m blown away by their resilience, by their good humor in the face of these difficult times,” said Rich Price, the uncle of one of the students.
The Institute for Middle East Understanding, in a statement from the victims’ families on X, formerly known as Twitter, identified the men as Hisham Awartani, Kinnan Abdalhamid and Tahseen Ali Ahmad.
The three shooting victims have been friends since first grade at Ramallah Friends School, a private school in the West Bank, and all are “remarkable, distinguished students,” said Rania Ma’ayeh, head of the school.
Awartani is studying mathematics and archaeology at Brown University in Rhode Island. Abdalhamid is a pre-med student at Haverford College in Pennsylvania and Ali Ahmad is studying mathematics and IT at Trinity College in Connecticut, Ma’ayeh said. Awartani and Abdalhamid are U.S. citizens, while Ali Ahmad is studying on a student visa, Ma’ayeh said.
“Our students are not safe in their own country because of the occupation. They’re studying abroad and have a bright future ahead of them and look at what happens,” she said. “This has deeply shaken us.”
Eaton moved to Burlington over the summer from Syracuse, N.Y., and legally purchased the gun used in the shooting, Murad told reporters. According to a police affidavit, federal agents found the gun in Eaton’s apartment on Sunday. Eaton came to the door holding his hands palms up and told the officers he had been waiting for them.
Syracuse police said Eaton’s name appeared in 37 police reports from 2007 until 2021 but never as a suspect. The cases ranged from domestic violence to larceny, and Eaton was listed as either a complainant or victim in 21 reports, according to Lt. Matthew Malinowski, the department’s public information officer.
“The family’s fear is that this was motivated by hate, that these young men were targeted because they were Arabs,” Price said.
The victims were speaking in a mix of English and Arabic, and two of them were also wearing black-and-white Palestinian keffiyeh scarves when they were shot, Murad said.
Speaking at a news conference, state’s attorney Sarah George said law enforcement officials do not yet have evidence to support a hate crime charge, which under Vermont law must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. But, she said, “I do want to be clear that there is no question that this was a hateful act.”
Demonstrations have been widespread and tensions in the U.S. have escalated as the death toll rises in the Israel-Hamas war. A fragile cease-fire between Israel and Hamas was set to continue for two more days past Monday as 11 more hostages were handed over to the Red Cross in Gaza under what was originally a four-day truce deal.