Vermont authorities have taken a suspect into custody after three Palestinian college students were shot.
Burlington Police Chief Jon Murray said in a conference on Monday, Jason J. Eaton, 48, was arrested Sunday after members of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives who were canvassing the Burlington area knocked on his front door.
When Eaton opened the door, Murad claimed he told an ATF agent “I’ve been waiting for you.”
Murray added, “Eaton asked for a lawyer and admitted he had a gun inside his home.”
After obtaining a warrant, authorities searched Eaton’s residence and reportedly found a legally acquired gun they claim is connected to the bullet casings recovered at the shooting scene.
“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. Eaton perpetrated the shooting,” Murad said.
Chittenden County State Attorney Sarah George said at the press conference, “Eaton has been charged with three counts of attempted murder. There was no question this was a hateful act.”
Eaton has pleaded not guilty and is currently being held without bail.
Two of the three men, who are all age 20, were wearing black and white Palestinian scarves known as keffiyehs, when a gunman confronted them “without speaking” and fired at least four shots at the group before fleeing on foot.
Police confirmed at the Monday press conference that the victims were speaking a mixture of English and Arabic at the time of the attack.
The Arab American Anti-Discrimination Committee has identified the three victims as Hisham Awartani of Brown University in Rhode Island; Kinnan Abdalhamid of Haverford College in Pennsylvania; and Tahseen Ahmed of Trinity University in Connecticut.
Police said two victims were struck in their torsos and one in the lower extremities. Family members shared at the press conference that Abdalhamid and Ahmed were recovering while Awartani faces a long road to recovery after suffering a spinal injury.
“All three victims are of Palestinian descent,” police said. “Two are US citizens and one is a legal resident.”
According to police, the men were visiting one of the victim’s relatives at a home in Burlington for the Thanksgiving holiday.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office and other authorities are investigating the shooting as a possible hate crime.
Nikolas P. Kerest, United States Attorney for the District of Vermont, said in a statement, “The United States Attorney’s Office and the Civil Rights Division will assess the evidence generated to determine whether a federal crime may have been committed.”
The Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Muslim civil rights organization, previously offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction in the shooting.
