ReportVermont Jury Convicts Eaton of Attempting to Kill 3 Palestinian StudentsAired September 23, 2026 at 5:30 AM UTCWritten September 23, 2026 at 5:33 AM UTCRead the write-upThis storyTranscript · LOADING0:11One bullet left a Brown student paralyzed from the chest down.0:15All three childhood friends survived, and the Burlington man who shot them on a0:19Thanksgiving weekend walk now faces up to life in prison on each of three attempted0:23murder counts with jurors rejecting his insanity claim.0:27How much prison time will finally decide this case?0:29On September 21st, 2026, a jury in Chittenden Superior Court convicted 51-year-old0:35Burlington man Jason Eaton of three counts of attempted second-degree murder.0:39Jurors deliberated about two hours after a six-day trial.0:42Eaton was ordered jailed pending sentencing.0:44Each count carries up to life in prison with a presumptive minimum of 20 years per0:48count.0:49The wounded men were 20-year-old childhood friends from Ramallah in the West Bank0:52who attended Ramallah Friends School together.0:55Identified as Hishem Awartani of Brown University, Tasina Liamad of Trinity College,0:59and Kinan Abd al-Hamid of Haverford College, they were visiting a Wartani's family1:04and grandmother in Burlington for Thanksgiving weekend.1:06A closing argument transcript rendered the same three names as Sham Aratani, Tazan1:11Ali Ahmed and Kanan Abdelhamid, variant transcriptions of the same men.1:15They were on a walk on North Prospect Street after dusk, speaking a mix of English1:19and Arabic, with two wearing kefias.1:22Eaton stepped off his porch, approached without speaking, and fired a Ruger pistol1:26without warning.1:27Eaton did not dispute that he was the shooter.1:29Evidence included matching casings and the pistol recovered from Eaton's apartment,1:32and victim testimony that he opened fire without warning.1:35A wartani was struck in the thumb and in the chest and spine, and was paralyzed from1:40the chest down.1:41Also described as paralyzed from the waist down and lives with paraplegia.1:45Ali Ahmad was struck in the chest.1:47Abdal Hamid was struck in the glute while running away.1:50All three survived and testified on the first day of trial on September 14, 2026.1:55Victim mother Elizabeth Price was cited in connection with the paralysis and the1:58verdict.1:59The trial turned on mental state.2:01Prosecutors argued Eaton acted intentionally, had no mental disease or defect, was2:06not insane, and was guilty on all three counts.2:09Forensic psychiatrist Dr.2:11Jilem Biswas testified for the prosecution on September 17, 2026, that Eaton was2:16legally sane at the time of the shooting and criminally responsible, while agreeing2:20he had mental health issues.2:22The defense by public defenders Josh O'Hara and Margaret Yansch called the events2:26tragic and argued Eaton was legally insane with psychotic and delusional disorder2:31and lacked capacity to appreciate the criminality of his conduct or to conform his2:35conduct.2:36The defense presented an expert who said Eaton was psychotic, pointed to Eaton2:40hearing voices directing him and to losing his job about two weeks earlier, and2:44played a recorded November 30th, 2023 interview in which Eaton claimed government2:48agencies including the CIA and Mossad directed him through FM radio and that God2:52told him to protect Jewish neighbors after October 7th.2:55The judge had previously found Eaton competent to stand trial and during trial2:59denied Eaton's mid-trial attempt to fire his attorneys and represent himself.3:03No hate crime charges were filed and no additional findings on motive or other3:07charges beyond the three attempted murder counts were established.3:10Families said justice has been rendered after three years of sorrow and struggle.3:14Owartani said he felt vindicated and that he was targeted because of who he is and3:19his heritage.3:20Sentencing has not been scheduled.3:23State's attorney Sarah George said she will seek input from the families before3:27recommending a sentence, leaving the length of prison time, whether terms run3:31consecutively, and how the court weighs permanent paralysis and the rejected3:36insanity claim still to be decided.Explore with HeyDexFollow via RSSThe shortThe short ↗