On the other side of the ocean, Elizabeth Price, Hisham’s mother, received a call from her brother in Burlington. He informed her that Hisham and his friends had been shot and were in the hospital. Elizabeth was overwhelmed with shock and guilt as she realized the children had been at her mother’s house when the incident occurred. She immediately called Tamara, who frantically asked for more details about the shooting and the condition of their son Kinnan.
The families rushed to reach Vermont. Elizabeth, her husband, and Tamara left first, while Tahseen’s mother had to deal with visa issues and would join them later. Hisham’s father, with his Palestinian ID, was not allowed to access Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv. They had to take a longer route, passing through dangerous roads with settlers throwing stones, crossing a bridge controlled by Israel at the Jordanian border, and going through multiple security checkpoints at the international airport in Amman. They had to wait for 12 hours in Amman, filled with fear and disbelief.
In the ICU, the three friends examined their wounds. Kinnan had been shot in the gluteal muscles, while Tahseen had a bullet wound above his right lung and cracked ribs from the fall. Hisham couldn’t feel his legs anymore. Despite their injuries, they managed to joke about the situation, commenting on how unusual it was for such an incident to happen in Vermont. They speculated on the motive behind the shooting, considering the recent violence against Palestinians with the support of the United States.
The police arrived shortly after to investigate the incident. Proving a hate crime can be challenging, especially when the aggressor remains silent. The man charged with the attack, Jason Eaton, had a complex background and had made concerning statements online. He had multiple weapons in his possession, consistent with the bullets found at the crime scene. Eaton pleaded not guilty to three charges of attempted second-degree murder.
