Overview

• Three Palestinian college students were shot in Burlington, Vermont while out for a walk. The victims, Hisham Awartani, Kinnan Abdalhamid and Tahseen Ali Ahmad, were visiting family for the holiday break.
• The victims believe they were targeted because they were speaking Arabic. Two of them were also wearing traditional Palestinian scarves, known as keffiyehs, at the time of the shooting.
• Hisham Awartani, who was shot in the spine, managed to use his phone's emergency SOS button despite his injuries, likely saving their lives.
• The suspected gunman, Jason J. Eaton, was arrested and has pleaded not guilty to three counts of attempted murder. Authorities are investigating the shooting as a possible hate crime.
• The shooting has sparked outrage amid ongoing tensions surrounding the Israel-Hamas war and a surge in Islamophobia in the U.S.