BURLINGTON — Jason Eaton is on trial for attempted second-degree murder in the shooting of three Palestinian college students. The trial began on September 14, 2026, at Chittenden Superior Criminal Court in Burlington, Vermont.

Eaton faces three counts of attempted second-degree murder and is raising an insanity defense. If convicted, he faces up to life in prison without the possibility of parole, but if found not guilty by reason of insanity, he could be ordered to undergo mental health treatment.

The charges stem from a shooting on November 25, 2023, in Burlington, Vermont. The victims were Hisham Awartani, Tahseen Aliahmad, and Kinnan Abdalhamid, who were 20 years old at the time and are now 23. The three men grew up in Ramallah in the West Bank and were schoolmates before moving to the U.S. for college. At the time of the shooting, Awartani was a student at Brown University, Aliahmad was a student at Trinity College, and Abdalhamid was a student at Haverford College.

Defense attorney Joshua O’Hara told jurors that Eaton claimed he was acting on orders from the CIA and Mossad when he shot the students. O’Hara argued that Eaton was suffering from a delusional, psychotic disorder after losing his job at a credit union two weeks before the shooting. He said Eaton believed he was hearing messages from the CIA while listening to a local NPR affiliate, and that U.S. and Israeli intelligence agencies transmitted messages to him via FM radio.

O’Hara told jurors that the messages initially were encouraging but later insisted that Eaton “has to go out and shoot somebody.” He said Eaton became convinced that the CIA and Mossad were enlisting him into “overwatch duty” to protect a Jewish family living across the street, and that God was commanding him to protect his Jewish neighbors.

“He believed in the moment that he was doing something that was right,” he said. “He had been commanded to do this.” He added that Eaton did not have the ability to appreciate the wrongfulness of his conduct in the moment because he believed he had been instructed to do this by a government agency or God.

Prosecutor Sally Adams, chief administrative deputy at the Chittenden County State’s Attorney's Office, told jurors that a state psychiatrist concluded that Eaton did not have a mental disease or defect. She said evidence would show Eaton intended to kill the men, was not legally justified in shooting them, and does not meet the test of legal insanity. She described Eaton as an arrogant man who always wanted to be the smartest guy in the room and knew what he was doing was wrong.

“If the defense tries to focus on the story that Mr. Eaton tells about why he intended to kill these three young men, that story is only part of the whole picture,” Adams said. She said authorities found three shotguns in Eaton's apartment and a Ruger.380-caliber handgun that crime lab testing concluded was the gun used in the shooting. Adams said Eaton had purchased the gun seven months earlier from a Vermont gun store, and later testing revealed matches between the gun and casings found at the shooting scene.

Awartani testified that he first noticed Eaton standing on a porch as they approached the apartment house. He said Eaton was off the porch and walking toward them within seconds, with an expressionless face and without saying anything. Awartani said, “he pulled out a handgun and started shooting at us,” when Eaton got to about five to 10 feet away. Two of the three students were wearing keffiyehs at the time of the shooting.

Aliahmad was struck in the collarbone, and Abdalhamid was shot in the right buttock. Awartani testified that the bullet ricocheted off his scapula, causing paraplegia in his spinal cord, and he now uses a wheelchair due to injuries from the shooting. Abdalhamid testified that he fled and hid behind another home after seeing Aliahmad fall to the ground, and said he only realized later when he sat down that he had also been wounded.

Jacob Pyne, who lived in a different apartment in the same house, testified that he heard four to six gunshots. Pyne testified that he heard footsteps going up the stairs of the apartment house after the gunshots. He said he ran outside and heard two men speaking, one of whom was yelling, “I’ve been shot, help me.” Pyne said he brought the men blankets and called 911.

Judge John Pacht told people in the gallery they could not visibly wear keffiyehs in the courtroom, but said he would allow the three students to wear keffiyehs as they testified. Each of the three students took the witness stand with a keffiyeh draped over his shoulders. No hate crime charges were filed in the case.

Timeline

On November 25, 2023, the shooting occurred in Burlington, Vermont. On the evening of Nov. 25, 2023, Jason Eaton shot Hisham Awartani, Kinnan Abdalhamid, and Tahseen Aliahmad, who were walking on North Prospect Street in Burlington, Vermont.

Eaton allegedly stepped off a porch and confronted them, firing at least four rounds from a pistol without speaking. Adams said Eaton emerged from a porch on his apartment building on the evening of Nov. 25, 2023, and shot the three students.

What's New

Adams said Eaton reportedly told investigators, “I’ve been waiting for you,” a day after the shooting.

Eaton faces three counts of attempted second-degree murder. “He doesn’t say a word,” Adams said of Eaton as he allegedly fired the shots and then fled. Adams said later testing revealed matches between a gun found inside Eaton’s apartment and casings found at the shooting scene. The Burlington Police Department investigated the shooting. Law enforcement officers canvassed the apartment following the shooting and knocked on Eaton’s apartment door. Eaton reportedly said, 'I’ve been waiting for you.'

Why It Matters

The trial centers on the legal definition of insanity and whether Eaton’s alleged delusions exempted him from criminal responsibility. The prosecution argues that Eaton intended to kill the students and does not meet the test for legal insanity, while the defense contends he was unable to appreciate the wrongfulness of his actions due to a psychotic disorder. The outcome will determine whether Eaton faces life in prison or mandatory mental health treatment.

The case involves three international students who were visiting Burlington during Thanksgiving break when they were shot. The victims, all from the West Bank, suffered severe injuries, with one left paralyzed. The proceedings have included specific courtroom rules regarding the display of cultural symbols, reflecting the broader context of the incident. No hate crime charges were filed, though prosecutors described the act as hateful.