Three Students From Palestine Were Shot In Vermont. Civil Rights Organizations Are Demanding That The Reason Be Closely Examined

 

Following the shooting of three Palestinian college students in Burlington, Vermont, on Saturday night, civil rights organizations and the relatives of the victims demanded that the attacker's potential bias be investigated by the police.

The Burlington Police Department released a news release on Sunday stating that the 20-year-old men are all receiving medical attention. "One has sustained far more serious injuries, while the other two are stable."

According to the release, "they were confronted by a white man with a handgun" as the students were strolling down Prospect Street during their Thanksgiving break, while they were visiting a relative in Burlington.

Police said, "He fired at least four rounds from the pistol without saying anything and is thought to have fled on foot."

Two of the victims, according to the police, are US citizens, and one is a lawful resident.

The Palestinian traditional scarves known as keffiyehs were worn by two of the three students, the police department said. A bullet hit one person's "lower extremities" and two people's torsos.

Ballistic evidence was found by investigators from the shooting, and Burlington police say that this evidence will be added to a federal database.

On Sunday, the FBI declared that it was "prepared to investigate" the matter.

When police responded to a call, they discovered two shooting victims near the University of Vermont campus, and a third was discovered a short distance away, according to a previous news release from Police Chief Jon Murad.

The news release stated that the victims were taken to the University of Vermont Medical Center.

According to Murad, the shooter or shooters have not been located or identified, and the police force is "just beginning its investigation into this incident."