Vermont Man Convicted of Attempted Murder in Shooting of Three Palestinian Students

A jury on Monday convicted Jason Eaton, 51, of attempted murder in the November 2023 shooting of three Palestinian college students near the University of Vermont campus in Burlington. The verdict came after a weeklong trial where Eaton's defense team argued he should be found not guilty by reason of insanity, citing his claims of receiving orders from the CIA and Mossad.

Eaton faces up to life in prison. The shooting left Hisham Awartani paralyzed from the waist down, while his friends Tahseen Aliahmad and Kinnan Abdalhamid sustained wounds. The three students, all 20 at the time of the attack, grew up in Ramallah in the West Bank before coming to the U.S. for college.

The jury deliberated for several hours before reaching its decision. Eaton, who had pleaded not guilty but did not dispute he was the shooter, showed no visible reaction as the verdict was read. Awartani and Aliahmad, who were present in the courtroom, reacted with smiles and embraced those around them.

Prosecutors argued that Eaton was suffering from a delusional, psychotic disorder, exacerbated by losing his job at a credit union two weeks prior to the incident. His defense lawyers presented testimony that Eaton believed he was receiving commands via FM radio, first encouraging, then instructing him to shoot someone. Authorities recovered three shotguns and the handgun used in the shooting from Eaton's apartment. Crime lab testing confirmed the handgun was the weapon used.

The students were walking near the University of Vermont campus after dusk, returning from a birthday celebration, when Eaton approached them. Awartani testified that Eaton, without speaking, drew a handgun and began firing from about five to 10 feet away. Awartani was shot in the chest, resulting in paraplegia. Aliahmad, a student at Trinity College, was struck in the collarbone, and Abdalhamid, a student at Haverford College, was shot in the right buttock.

Another resident of the same apartment building testified to hearing multiple gunshots and then footsteps. He ran outside to find two of the students injured and called 911.

The shooting, which occurred a few days after Thanksgiving and weeks into the Israel-Hamas war, drew widespread attention and calls for a hate crime investigation. However, no hate crime charges were filed, as investigators sought to determine the motivations behind Eaton's actions, considering factors such as anti-Palestinian animus, mental state, or other influences.