A Vermont jury on Monday convicted Jason Eaton, 51, of attempted murder for shooting three Palestinian college students near his Burlington home in November 2023, rejecting his insanity defense after several hours of deliberation.
Eaton did not deny pulling the trigger but argued through his attorneys that he should be found not guilty by reason of insanity. His defense claimed he had been suffering from a psychotic disorder after losing his job and believed the CIA and Mossad were transmitting orders to him through FM radio signals to shoot the men.
The three victims, Hisham Awartani, Tahseen Aliahmad and Kinnan Abdalhamid, were 20 years old at the time of the attack. All three had grown up together as schoolmates in Ramallah in the West Bank before coming to the United States for college.
The shooting happened just days after Thanksgiving as the three young men were walking near the University of Vermont campus. Awartani testified that Eaton stepped off his porch and approached them without saying a word before opening fire at close range.
Awartani was struck in the chest and the bullet ricocheted off his scapula, leaving him paralyzed from the waist down. Aliahmad was shot in the collarbone and Abdalhamid was wounded in the right buttock. Awartani now uses a wheelchair and was present in court when the verdict was read.
Prosecutors said authorities recovered three shotguns from Eaton’s apartment along with a Ruger .380-caliber handgun that crime lab analysis identified as the weapon used in the attack. Eaton had purchased the handgun seven months before the shooting.
Two of the victims were wearing keffiyehs, traditional Palestinian scarves, at the time of the attack. The shooting occurred just weeks after the start of the Israel-Hamas war and prompted calls for a hate crime investigation, though no hate crime charges were ultimately filed.
Eaton faces up to life in prison. He showed no visible reaction as the verdict was announced, staring blankly ahead. Awartani and Aliahmad, seated in the front row of the gallery, embraced those around them and smiled following the decision.
Sentencing has not yet been scheduled. Eaton was ordered to remain jailed in the interim.