The suspect in the shooting of three Palestinian students has pleaded not guilty to attempted second-degree murder charges in a Burlington court, and police still working to determine the motive of the shooting.
“We still do not know as much as we want to know,” Burlington Police Chief Jon Murad told reporters at a news conference two days after the shooting. “But I would urge the public and you in the media to avoid making conclusions based on statements from people who know even less than we currently do. We are working hard to find out this information.”
According to a source close, one of the three 20-year-old Palestinian college students who were shot Saturday night in Vermont had been released from the hospital.
The identity of the released student is not being revealed at this time due to concerns for the young man's safety.
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Two other students remain hospitalized, one with a spinal injury that will necessitate long-term care, according to officials.
According to the Institute for Middle East Understanding, the shooting victims are Hisham Awartani of Brown University in Rhode Island, Kinnan Abdalhamid of Haverford College in Pennsylvania, and Tahseen Ali Ahmad of Trinity College in Connecticut.
Jason J. Eaton, 48, was arrested on Sunday and pled not guilty to three counts of attempted second-degree murder at his arraignment on Monday. He is being kept in jail without bail.
"Although we do not yet have evidence to support a hate crime enhancement, I want to be clear that there is no question, this was a hateful act," Chittenden County State's Attorney Sarah George said Monday.
The three students were in Burlington for Thanksgiving, visiting Hisham Awartani's grandmother, and were going for a stroll before dinner when they were shot, according to Marwan Awartani, a former Palestinian education minister speaking on behalf of the victims' families.
In a Monday statement, the families expressed relief that the culprit had been apprehended, stating, "This was a crime fueled by hate."
Several human rights organizations have also urged investigators to investigate if the shooting was motivated by hatred thoroughly. The attack occurred amid a documented increase in anti-Muslim and anti-Arab bias incidents in the United States since the Israel-Hamas conflict erupted last month.
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