Crime & Safety
Palestinian-American Student At Hartford College Shot In VT: Reports
The 20-year-old Trinity College student was one of three shot in what some claim was a hate crime. A man is in custody.
HARTFORD, CT/BURLINGTON, VT. — A student at a Hartford-based college was one of three Palestinian-Americans shot and injured in Burlington, Vt., over the weekend.
According to the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), Tahseen Ahmed, a 20-year-old student at Trinity College in Hartford, was one of three shot by a gunman in Vermont's biggest city.
Citing the Burlington, Vt., Police Department, WTNH Channel 8 reported the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives had charged Jason J. Eaton, 48, early Sunday morning in connection with the shooting.
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The ADC said the gunman opened fire on the trio of friends, who were all wearing a traditional Aram Kuffiyeh and were speaking Arabic near the University of Vermont campus.
One of the students was critically injured and two of the three are in stable condition, reported WTNH.
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According to the ADC, the other students shot were Hisham Awartani of Brown University in Providence, R.I., and Mr. Kinnan Abdalhamid of Haverford College in Haverford, Pa.
It was not clear which students suffered the serious/critical injuries.
In a statement released Sunday, the ADC called for Vermont law enforcers to probe the shooting as a hate crime, also calling on the U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to get involved as well.
“We are praying for a full recovery of the victims, and will stand by to support the families in any way that is needed. Given the information collected and provided, it is clear that the hate was a motivating factor in this shooting, and we call on law enforcement to investigate it as such," ADC National Executive Director Abed Ayoub said in a statement Sunday.
"The surge in anti-Arab and anti-Palestinian sentiment we are experiencing is unprecedented, and this is another example of that hate turning violent.”
For the full American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee statement, click on this link.
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