Three Palestinian students have been shot in Burlington, Vermont in what is feared to have been a hate crime.

The victims, all aged 20, were named by the Institute for Middle East Understanding as Hisham Awartani, Kinnan Abdalhamid and Tahseen Ali Ahmad.

All three are being treated in hospital. Two were described as being stable, while the third sustained “much more serious injuries”, according to local police.

Two of the three students were wearing keffiyehs – a scarf popular in the Middle East – police said.

It is understood they were speaking Arabic at the time of the attack.

They were approached by a white man with a handgun who, without speaking, fired at least four bullets before fleeing on foot.

The students were in Burlington visiting one of the victim’s relatives.

“In this charged moment, no one can look at this incident and not suspect that it may have been a hate-motivated crime,” said police chief Jon Murad.

“And I have already been in touch with federal investigatory and prosecutorial partners to prepare for that if it’s proven.”

In a statement, the families urged police to bring the shooter to justice.

Bernie Sanders, one of Vermont’s senators and former presidential candidate, condemned the shooting.

“It is shocking and deeply upsetting that three young Palestinians were shot here in Burlington,” he wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

“Hate has no place here, or anywhere. I look forward to a full investigation. My thoughts are with them and their families.”

Burlington’s mayor, Miro Weinberger, described the shooting as “unacceptable”.

The shooting was the latest incident in which anger over the war in Gaza has spilled over into the US.

Jewish students have faced harassment on several campuses in the US and there has also been a spoke in Islam in anti-Muslim hate crimes over the past month.

Within days of the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel, a six-year-old Muslim boy died after being stabbed 36 times and his mother was seriously injured after suffering more than a dozen stab wounds.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations has offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the shooter.

“Due to the unprecedented spike in anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian hate and violence we have witnessed in recent weeks, local, state and national law enforcement authorities must investigate a possible bias motive for the shooting of these three young men,” said CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad.