Campus Alert Archive
UVM

Three Palestinian Students Shot Yards From the UVM Library: A Hate-Crime Investigation Two Blocks From Bailey/Howe

VTshootingemergency notificationhigh confidence
Confirmed Threat

On the evening of November 25, 2023, three 20-year-old college students of Palestinian descent — visiting Burlington for Thanksgiving and wearing keffiyehs — were shot on North Prospect Street, yards from the University of Vermont's Bailey/Howe Library. The University issued a terse eight-word CatAlert. The three victims were identified as Hisham Awartani (Brown), Kinnan Abdalhamid (Haverford), and Tahseen Ahmad (Trinity). 48-year-old Jason Eaton was arrested the next day and the shooting was investigated as a possible hate crime.

Alerts
2
Response
—
Killed
0
Injured
3
Institution
University of Vermont
Public R1 · VT
~14,000 studentsRave Mobile SafetyCatAlert
Confirmed Timeline

Alert Sequence

2 messages in sequence · 2 verified verbatim

INITIAL ALERTSMS
Verified verbatimThe College Reporter quoted the verbatim automated CatAlert text students received the night of the shooting40 chars
Shooting on N Prospect St. in Burlington
Sent shortly after the 6:30 PM EST shooting on North Prospect Street; the entire SMS was just these eight words with no additional detail
Students quoted in The College Reporter criticized the alert as 'lackluster and bare,' offering no guidance on whether the shooter was still at large in Burlington
Burlington Police led the investigation rather than UVM Police because the shooting occurred just off the official UVM property line
CatAlert is the University of Vermont's emergency notification system, which uses the Rave Mobile Safety platform to push SMS, email, and voice messages to subscribers
FOLLOW-UPEmail
Verified verbatimUVM Office of the President — 'Shooting incident on North Prospect Street, November 25,' joint statement from President Suresh Garimella and Provost Patty Prelock641 chars
We are saddened by reports of a shooting at approximately 6:30 pm last night on Prospect Street in Burlington near UVM, injuring three out-of-state visitors. Currently, we have no indication of a connection to the university community, but the investigation is at an early stage. Local news outlets are reporting that the victims are men of Palestinian descent. The motive is not yet known. While there is no specific threat to the UVM community at this time, an assailant has not yet been identified, and out of an abundance of caution, UVM Police Services and our campus safety teams are enhancing security operations in and around campus.
Issued the morning after the shooting; the statement explicitly identified the victims by Palestinian descent based on local news reporting at the time
The phrase 'an abundance of caution' justified enhanced UVM Police Services patrols even though the assailant had not been identified and the off-campus location did not technically require a Clery emergency notification
Did not yet characterize the attack as potentially bias-motivated — the Burlington Police later said they were investigating bias as a possible motive but as of November 2024 prosecutors had said evidence did not support a state hate-crime enhancement
Joint Garimella-Prelock byline reflected the institutional 'all-of-leadership' posture UVM uses for high-impact safety incidents
Context

Background

On the evening of November 25, 2023, three 20-year-old college students of Palestinian descent — Hisham Awartani (Brown University), Kinnan Abdalhamid (Haverford College), and Tahseen Ahmad (Trinity College) — were shot at approximately 6:30 PM EST while walking on North Prospect Street in Burlington, Vermont. The three were visiting one victim's grandmother for Thanksgiving and were wearing keffiyehs to express solidarity with Palestinians during the Gaza war. They were two blocks from the University of Vermont's central campus and yards from the Bailey/Howe Library when a white man with a handgun confronted them and fired four rounds without speaking. The University of Vermont issued a terse CatAlert that read only 'Shooting on N Prospect St. in Burlington,' which students later criticized as offering no protective guidance. UVM President Suresh Garimella followed with a community email that evening. 48-year-old Jason Eaton was arrested the next afternoon at his apartment one block from the shooting site and charged with three counts of attempted second-degree murder. The shooting drew international attention given the Gaza war context and the keffiyehs the victims were wearing. Awartani was paralyzed from the chest down due to a spinal injury; Abdalhamid and Ahmad were treated and released. The case is significant for the campus alert archive because it illustrates the responsibility a university bears when a violent crime occurs immediately adjacent to but not technically on campus property — a particularly common scenario at urban-edge institutions like UVM.
Analysis

Key Findings

The shooting occurred two blocks from UVM's central campus and yards from the Bailey/Howe Library, but on Burlington city property — illustrating the alert system's role in adjacent-property incidents
All three victims survived; Hisham Awartani sustained spinal injuries causing paralysis from the chest below
The arrest came approximately 24 hours after the shooting, with Eaton apprehended one block from the shooting site
Despite community calls for hate-crime classification, the Chittenden County State's Attorney determined as of November 2024 that there was insufficient evidence of bias motive to add a hate-crime enhancement to the attempted-murder charges; no federal hate-crime charges have been filed
UVM's CatAlert system was used to direct students to avoid the area despite the incident being technically off-campus, a notable institutional decision
Outcome
All three students survived but Hisham Awartani was paralyzed from the chest down due to a spinal injury (a bullet lodged in his spine). Jason Eaton was arrested approximately 24 hours after the shooting and charged with three counts of attempted second-degree murder; he has been held without bail since November 2023. As of late 2024, [Chittenden County State's Attorney Sarah George said there was insufficient evidence to add a state hate-crime enhancement](https://www.vermontpublic.org/local-news/2024-11-12/man-accused-shooting-palestinian-students-burlington-unlikely-face-hate-crime-charges) and no federal hate-crime charges have been filed; community groups have pushed for hate-crime classification but prosecutors say no bias-motive evidence has emerged. The shooting drew international attention and prompted President Joe Biden to call the victims' families.
Provenance

Sources

  1. Official
    Shooting incident on North Prospect Street, November 25 - UVM Office of the President
    uvm.edu
  2. Student Paper
    Three Palestinian Students Shot in Burlington, VT - The College Reporter
    the-college-reporter.com
  3. Source
    2023 shooting of Palestinian students in Burlington, Vermont - Wikipedia
    en.wikipedia.org
  4. News
    3 people shot in Vermont identified as Palestinian college students - CNN
    cnn.com
  5. News
    Three People Shot Near UVM Campus in Burlington, Police Say - Seven Days
    sevendaysvt.com
  6. News
    Three Palestinian American students injured in Burlington shooting - WCAX
    wcax.com
  7. News
    Burlington shooting victims are three Palestinian American students - My Champlain Valley
    mychamplainvalley.com
Tags
shootingoff-campus-incidentvermontuvmburlingtonhate-crimepalestinian-studentsthanksgivingcatalertinternational-attentiongaza-war-era
Added May 2026Updated June 2026Via ingestion