2023-11-27T17:49:27+00:00
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/ Jason Eaton, the main suspect in the shooting of 3 students of Palestinian origin, in Burlinton, Vermont, pleaded not guilty on Monday, during a court hearing to hear the memorandum of charges against him.
The judge decided to place the 48-year-old defendant in custody without bail, while the Vermont Attorney General’s Office confirmed that investigations are still underway into whether the incident was a hate crime related to the events taking place in the Middle East.
In turn, Burlington Police said in a press release that Jason Eaton (48 years old) was arrested yesterday afternoon, Sunday, near the site of the attack.
Eaton lives in an apartment building across from the shooting scene, and a search of his home revealed evidence that gave investigators “probable cause to believe that Eaton was the one who did the shooting,” according to a police statement.
A source from the authorities said that during the search of the suspect’s home, the authorities found a “Ruger 380 semi-automatic pistol,” and the weapon will be transferred to a laboratory affiliated with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, to be examined and investigated if it matches the weapon used in the incident.
Yesterday, Sunday, the American police announced that students were injured on Saturday in a shooting in the city of Burlington, indicating what appeared to be a “hate crime.”
Police described the shooter as a “white man armed with a handgun,” adding that “without saying a word, he fired at least four shots from the handgun and is believed to have fled on foot.”
While there was no official confirmation of the shooter’s motives, police confirmed that two of the students were wearing the traditional Palestinian keffiyeh.
Last month, a six-year-old American child of Palestinian origin was stabbed to death, and his mother was injured in Illinois. The 71-year-old suspect who committed the crime pleaded not guilty.