Three Palestinian College Students Shot in Vermont in Alleged Hate Crime

Three Palestinian college students, Hisham Awartani, Kinnan Abdel Hamid, and Tahseen Ahmed, all aged 20, were shot on Saturday night in what is being investigated as a possible hate crime. The incident occurred in Burlington, Vermont, as the three friends were walking home from dinner, wearing keffiyeh scarves and speaking Arabic.

According to the Burlington Police Department, the suspect, described as a white male, approached the victims without speaking and discharged at least four rounds from a handgun. The motive behind the shooting is still unknown, and authorities are investigating the incident as a potential hate crime.

When officers arrived at the scene, they found the three victims with gunshot wounds. Two of the victims were treated at the scene before being taken to the University of Vermont Medical Center, while the third victim was found a short distance away and also taken to the hospital. Two of the victims are currently in stable condition, while the third has sustained more serious injuries.

The Arab American Anti-Discrimination Committee has called the shooting a hate crime, citing the victims’ ethnicity and the circumstances surrounding the incident. The Council on American-Islamic Relations has offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the shooter.

The three victims are college students attending different universities in the United States. Hisham Awartani is a student at Brown University, Kinnan Abdel Hamid attends Haverford University, and Tahseen Ahmed studies at Trinity College. Their alma mater, Ramallah Friends School, expressed their support for the victims and called for a thorough investigation into the incident.

Law enforcement authorities are working with federal partners to determine the motive behind the shooting. In the current climate of heightened tensions, the incident has raised concerns about anti-Arab and anti-Palestinian sentiment turning violent. The community is rallying around the victims and their families, praying for their full recovery.