A walk around the block ends in tragedy
Awartani, Abdalhamid and Ahmad, all 20 years old, had just come back to Awartani’s grandmother’s house from a bowling alley when they decided to take a walk around the block. The three friends were in Burlington to celebrate Thanksgiving at the house of Awartini’s grandmother.
This was a walk the three almost life-long friends had done more than once. Just the day before the shooting, they’d walked the same path along the street Awartani’s grandmother’s house is on. Abdalhamid was wearing a Palestinian keffiyeh, a scarf that has become a symbol of Palestinian solidarity.
But on Nov. 25, when they walked their usual path, they saw a man standing across the road come down the porch of a home, pull out a pistol and shoot at them. Awartani and Abdalhamid believe the man may have seen them before and was possibly waiting for them that day.
“I don’t know why he’d have a loaded pistol and stand on the porch,” Abdalhamid said.
Awartani and Ahmad were wearing keffiyehs when they were shot, and all three of them were speaking Arabic with occasional English words woven in.
The man pointed the pistol at Ahmad first, then Awartani, he said.
“Tahseen was screaming. He was shot first,” Abdalhamid said. “Hisham didn’t make a sound. As soon as Tahseen started screaming, I was running.”
Jason Eaton, 48, was arrested two days later in connection with the shooting. Eaton has pleaded not guilty to three counts of second-degree attempted murder. Police have not yet revealed a motive for the shooting, saying the investigation ongoing.
The agencies handling the investigation — FBI, ATF and police — have not responded to NBC News’ requests for an update.
There’s not a doubt in Abdalhamid and Awartani’s minds that all three of them were shot because they are Palestinian, they said. They believe what happened to them was a hate crime.
“I don’t think too much about if there’s gonna be hate crime charges,” Awartani said. “I just care that,…
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