Here’s what we know so far about the Palestinian Pa. college student wounded in Vermont shooting

A Pennsylvania college student shot in Vermont along with two other Palestinians over the weekend reportedly received “non-life-threatening” injuries and is recovering in a hospital.

Kinnan Abdalhamid, a 20-year-old junior at Haverford College in suburban Philadelphia, and his two friends were shot Saturday while walking in Burlington near the University of Vermont, police said.

Citing police in Vermont, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported that two of the men were wearing keffiyehs, or headdresses, when the shooting occurred.

Jason Eaton, 48, was arrested on Sunday and has pleaded not guilty to three charges of second-degree attempted murder, according to CBS News , which also reported that police said two of the students were in stable condition while one had “more serious injuries.”

Jason J. Eaton, 48, has been accused of shooting and injuring the three young men of Palestinian descent in Burlington, Vt. on Saturday, Nov. 25, 2023. Authorities there say he's originally from Syracuse, N.Y.Burlington Police Department

The Inquirer reported that Abdalhamid is a biology major and a member of the Haverford track team.

PennLive found that Abdalhamid’s bio for his private Instagram account includes “sprinter” and “NREMT,” which typically stands for the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians.

An unidentified friend of Abdalhamid told the Inquirer that he is “a really bright kid” and “very active” in Palestinian causes on campus. The friends said Abdalhamid was in Vermont at a friend’s house for the Thanksgiving holiday.

Abdalhamid described himself as an Illinois-born Palestinian who had “lived under Israeli military occupation from when he was three until he began at Haverford,” in an October article by the Haverford Clerk student newspaper.

In that article, Abdalhamid was critical of the media and Haverford President Wendy Raymond following her comments about Israel’s assault on Gaza after Hamas attacked Israel in early October.

“She did not mourn the Palestinian citizens who were killed, or the children who were killed by this ruthless bombing,” Abdalhamid told the Clerk. “I don’t expect much from Western media or the college to mention much about Israel’s oppression and apartheid, but I at least expect the thousands who were killed to be mentioned and mourned.”

All three of the students graduated from the Quaker-operated Ramallah Friends School in Palestine’s West Bank, the school said in a Facebook post on Sunday. While Abdalhamid attends Haverford, Hisham Awartani is a student at Brown University and Tahseen Ahmed attends Trinity College, the school said.

A statement on Sunday from Raymond and Haverford Dean John McKnight described the students’ injuries as “non-life-threatening.”

On Monday, Raymond released another message directed to Palestinian, Muslim and Arab students. “Please know that I see you, I hear you, and you are seen, heard and held by your fellow community members at Haverford,” she said.

Raymond said McKnight had gone to Vermont to support Abdalhamid and his family, and the college was offering counseling to students as well as increasing security around campus.

“Haverford welcomes visitors, and, at the same time, we think it’s prudent for our Campus Safety presence to be more present and visible than usual,” she said.