A hospital discharged one of the three Palestinian students, aged 20, who were wounded by gunfire on Saturday night in Vermont, according to a person close to the victims’ families who spoke to CNN on Monday night.
The person did not reveal the name of the student who was released, citing safety concerns.
One of the students who suffered a spinal injury in the shooting on Saturday night in Vermont will need long-term care, officials said. The other student who was shot is still in the hospital. The third student was released, but his name is not being shared for his safety, a person close to the families told CNN.
The suspect in the shooting denied the charges of attempted second-degree murder in a court in Burlington. The police chief said they are still trying to find out why he shot the three Palestinian students, who are from different colleges in the US. They are Hisham Awartani from Brown University, Kinnan Abdalhamid from Haverford College, and Tahseen Ali Ahmad from Trinity College, the Institute for Middle East Understanding said. The police chief asked the public and the media not to jump to conclusions based on rumors. He said they are working hard to get more information.
The court denied bail to Jason J. Eaton, 48, who faces three charges of attempted second-degree murder. He said he was not guilty on Sunday, after he was arrested for shooting three Palestinian students. The state’s attorney said it was a hateful act, even if they do not have proof to call it a hate crime.
One of the students has a serious spinal injury, the police chief said to CNN. Another one was shot in the upper body, but will recover well. The third one was hit in the legs and was almost ready to leave the hospital. The mayor said the shooting changed their lives forever, and one of them has a long and hard recovery ahead.
The victims’ families said they were relieved the police caught the shooter, who they said acted out of hate. They said their sons, who were visiting one of their grandmothers for Thanksgiving, were shot for being Palestinian. They were walking before dinner and speaking in English and Arabic when the shooter approached them and opened fire, they said.
The police chief said they are still investigating the motive, but they have not found enough proof to call it a hate crime. He said some of the victims told the police that the shooter did not say anything to them. Several civil rights groups have asked the police to look into the possibility of hate as a factor, especially since there has been an increase in anti-Muslim and anti-Arab incidents in the US after the recent war between Israel and Hamas.
The police chief said the shooter did not know the students and shot them as he came off a porch. The victims’ families’ lawyer said he thinks the shooter chose the students partly because two of them had keffiyehs on – scarves that are part of Palestinian culture.
He said the shooter did not rob or mug the students, but just walked up to them and fired. He said it was a planned shooting and a planned crime. He spoke to CNN on Sunday, before the police said they caught the shooter.
The police said they found a gun in Eaton’s apartment that matched the one used in the shooting. They arrested him on Sunday, after ATF agents saw him near the crime scene. Eaton said he was expecting them, but he did not give his name or say if he had other weapons, according to a court document. He also had a shotgun in his apartment, he told the agents.
Eaton worked as a financial services employee until early November, when he was fired, his former employer said. He also had a part-time farming job, his online profiles show. His sister did not want to comment on the case.
Eaton did not show any emotion when the police told him he was charged with attempted second-degree murder, the police chief said. He said he did not want to talk to the detectives and asked for a lawyer. His lawyer said it was too early to say if he had a hate crime motive.
He could face life in prison if he is found guilty of the charges. Federal prosecutors are also looking into the possibility of a hate crime, officials said.