During his initial court appearance on Monday morning, Jason J. Eaton, the suspected perpetrator in the shooting of three Palestinian students near the University of Vermont over the weekend, entered a not guilty plea to all three counts of attempted second-degree murder. The arraignment took place virtually in Chittenden County Superior Court.
Currently held without bail, Eaton is awaiting a bond hearing, which the judge indicated would be scheduled in the coming days.
The victims, identified as Hisham Awartani from Brown University, Kinnan Abdalhamid from Haverford College, and Tahseen Ahmed from Trinity College, were shot and injured around 6:30 p.m. on Saturday during a Thanksgiving holiday gathering in Burlington, Vermont.
According to police reports, the students, all 20 years old, were on their way to dinner at the residence of one of the victim’s relatives when they were confronted by a White man armed with a handgun. The assailant opened fire on the victims “without speaking,” as stated by the police.
The shooting occurred in front of Eaton’s apartment building, and he was apprehended on Sunday afternoon near the scene of the incident. As of Monday morning, the three victims, two of whom are U.S. citizens and one a legal U.S. resident, remain hospitalized.
The investigation into the motive and circumstances surrounding the shooting is ongoing.
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