The mother of one of the three Palestinian students shot in Vermont over the weekend has revealed that her son may never walk again due to a bullet lodged in his spine. Elizabeth Price, the mother of 20-year-old Hisham Awartani who attends Brown University, expressed her distress and determination for justice in an interview with ABC News. The incident took place on Saturday night in Burlington, leaving the victims injured and traumatized.
Price described her son’s initial high spirits but acknowledged that he is beginning to understand the magnitude of the challenge he faces. While she believes he will be able to walk again, his life has already been drastically altered and he will have to rebuild a new life. She emphasized the importance of holding the shooter accountable and preventing similar crimes from happening in the future.
The White House has also weighed in on the incident, emphasizing that the students should be in school rather than recovering in a hospital room. Attorney General Merrick Garland has announced that federal authorities are investigating whether the shooting constitutes a hate crime. The suspect, Jason Eaton, appeared in court and pleaded not guilty to three counts of attempted second-degree murder. He is currently being held without bail.
The three college students, including Awartani, Kinnan Abdalhamid of Haverford College, and Tahseen Ahmed of Trinity College, were shot and injured while out for a Thanksgiving holiday gathering. They were confronted by a white man with a handgun who opened fire on them without speaking. The shooting occurred in front of Eaton’s apartment building, and he was apprehended by police near the scene.
It is worth noting that two of the victims are U.S. citizens, while the third is a legal U.S. resident. Additionally, two of the victims were wearing keffiyehs, traditional scarves worn in the Middle East, and were speaking Arabic at the time of the shooting, according to the Arab American Anti-Discrimination Committee.
Tamara Tamimi, the mother of Kinnan Abdalhamid, expressed hope that her son will be released from the hospital soon. The investigation into the incident continues, and the victims and their families are seeking justice for this disturbing act of violence.
This article was written by Greg Norman, a reporter at Digital, and includes contributions from Stephen Sorace and the Associated Press.
