Here’s what we know about Jason Eaton—the alleged shooter of three Palestinian college students—who pleaded not guilty Monday one day after he was arrested in connection to the Vermont shooting..
Police arrested Jason J. Eaton Sunday, the suspect in the shooting of three young men of Palestinian ... [+]
Eaton faces three counts of aggravated assault after allegedly shooting three men of Palestinian descent in Burlington, Vermont, on Saturday.
Eaton, 48, reportedly had “a lot of struggles in his life,” his mother, Mary Reed, told the Daily Beast Monday, adding that she was “shocked by the whole thing.”
Reed told the Daily Beast that her son had struggled with mental health issues including depression but was in “such a good mood” and “totally normal” when she saw him on Thanksgiving.
Eaton did not mention the war in the Middle East at Thanksgiving, Reed told the Daily Beast, but she noted that her son was “a very religious person” who often reads the Bible and “like all of us, thinks the world is a mess.”
The last time Reed saw her son was Thursday, she told the Daily Beast, adding that she found out her son was the suspect Monday morning.
Eaton reportedly lives in an apartment building in front of where the shooting took place, which led police to search Eaton’s home where they found “probable cause to believe that Mr. Eaton perpetrated the shooting,” CNN reported.
“I just don’t understand,” Reed told the Daily Beast. “I can’t believe he would do something like this.”
Eaton’s motive for allegedly shooting the three students remains unclear, though there is some speculation that the shooting was a hate crime. Over the weekend, police said that in this “charged moment” it’s possible the men were targeted because they are Arab.
On Saturday, three college students—Hisham Awartani, Kinnan Abdalhamid and Tahseen Ali Ahmad, all 20-years-old—were walking on a Burlington, Vermont, street when Eaton allegedly fired at least four rounds using a handgun and did not say anything to the victims. Police said he fled the scene. The victims were identified in a joint statement released by the families through the Institute for Middle East Understanding. Abdalhamid is a student at Haverford College, Ahmed is a student at Trinity College and Awartani is a student at Brown University. The shooting happened outside Awartani’s grandmother's home, who the men were visiting for Thanksgiving, CNN reported. Two of the victims are in stable condition and one has “much more serious injuries,” police said.
Suspect Arrested In Shooting Of Three Students Of Palestinian Descent In Vermont (Forbes)
3 Palestinian Students Shot In Vermont, Suspect At Large (Forbes)