CNN reported that three Palestinian college students were shot on Saturday night in Burlington City, Vermont, in the United States. After spending Thanksgiving with a relative in Burlington, the students were reportedly walking down Prospect Street when “they were confronted by a white man with a handgun.” According to a police statement released on Sunday and cited by CNN, the victims—two of whom are US citizens and one a lawful resident—were taken to the University of Vermont Medical Center for medical attention.
“Two are stable, while one has sustained much more serious injuries,” the police said in its release.
“Without speaking, he discharged at least four rounds from the pistol and is believed to have fled on foot,” police said.
Notably, two of the students were wearing keffiyehs, traditional Palestinian scarves, they added.
According to CNN, two students sustained injuries to the torso, while the third suffered injuries to the “lower extremities.”
“There is no additional information to suggest the suspect’s motive,” according to the authorities. Additionally, according to Burlington police, ballistic evidence was found by detectives from the shooting and will be added to a federal database. According to reports, the FBI declared on Sunday that it was “ready to look into” the incident. The gunman or gunmen have not yet been located or identified, according to CNN, and the police are “in the earliest stages of investigating this crime.” The families of the victims asked law enforcement to look into the attack as a possible hate crime in a joint statement.