This story will be updated.
A 48-year-old man accused of shooting three men of Palestinian descent in Burlington Saturday night pleaded not guilty to three charges of attempted second degree murder.
Jason Eaton, of Burlington, was arraigned in Chittenden County Superior Court Monday morning. He’ll be held in prison without bail, and a hearing will be scheduled in coming days to decide whether he should continue to be held without bail.
All three shooting victims are 20-year-old college students and were in Burlington visiting one student’s family during Thanksgiving break.
According to the Burlington Police Department, Hisham Awartani, Kinnan Abdalhamid and Tahseen Ahmed were walking on Prospect Street when Eaton, who’s white, confronted them and without speaking fired at least four rounds from a pistol.
Court records show Awartani was hit in the spine, Abdalhamid in the glute and Aliahmad in the upper chest.
As of Sunday afternoon, two of the victims were in stable condition, and the third had more serious injuries.
BPD says the shooting took place in front of the apartment building where Eaton lives.
According to the police affidavit, when authorities met Eaton at the apartment Sunday, he “made a statement to the effect of, ‘I’ve been waiting for you.’”
Court records say police found the same brand of bullets inside Eaton’s apartment that they found at the scene of the shooting.
The victims' families and multiple civil rights organizations are asking for the shooting to be investigated as a hate crime.
Local, state and federal officials provided an update during a press conference today, which you can watch here:
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