Trial of man accused of shooting 3 Palestinian college students begins in Burlington

The long-awaited trial of the man accused of shooting and wounding three men of Palestinian descent in Burlington begins today. Jason Eaton, 51, has pleaded not guilty to three charges of attempted second-degree murder and could be sentenced to life in prison if he’s convicted. He’s been held in prison since the shooting. During the trial, Eaton’s attorneys will argue that he was insane at the time of the crime, and therefore should not be criminally punished. The November 2023 shooting, which occurred about a month after the beginning of the war in Gaza, made national and international headlines.

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Scoop News DeskBurlington, Vermont · Published Monday, September 14, 2026 at 9:00 AM UTCUpdated Tuesday, September 15, 2026 at 8:11 PM UTC

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Costello Courthouse in downtown Burlington, here’s what you need to know: According to the Burlington Police Department, Hisham Awartani, Kinnan Abdalhamid and Tahseen Ali Ahmad were walking on North Prospect Street speaking a mixture of English and Arabic. Recent high-profile cases where defendants pursued insanity defenses include a Burlington man who killed his wife with a meat cleaver and the man who killed five teens while driving the wrong way on I-89. Chittenden County State’s Attorney Sarah George charged Eaton with three counts of attempted second-degree murder for allegedly shooting the three young men.

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