Defendant in Triple Shooting Had Alarmed Two Ex-Partners

Jason J. Eaton at Monday’s arraignment Credit: File: James Buck

At least two New York State women expressed concerns to police about Jason Eaton long before he allegedly opened fire on three college students of Palestinian descent in Burlington, police records show.

In summer 2013, a Syracuse, N.Y., woman contacted city police shortly after ending a relationship with Eaton. He’d left a shotgun at her house, and the woman wanted to hand it over to police; she didn’t “want to have contact with him,” according to a police report. The woman also alluded to a “history of domestic violence” during their recently ended relationship, the report said.

“She explained that Eaton has a history of mental illness, and she does [not] feel safe returning the shotgun to him,” police wrote in the report. A Deerslayer 20-gauge shotgun and 20-gauge shotgun shells were later logged into police evidence.

About six years later, a second woman who’d had a relationship with Eaton contacted police in the village of DeWitt, N.Y. He’d driven by her house and sent numerous text messages that were “sexual in nature but not threatening,” even though she’d told him to leave her alone, an October 21, 2019, domestic incident report reads.

While officers were talking to the woman, Eaton drove by and the officers stopped his truck. According to the report, Eaton told officers he’d gotten “mixed signals” from the woman about their relationship status.

“I advised Eaton that [the woman] wants absolutely no contact with him from this point forward,” Officer Alexander Fratini wrote in his report. “Eaton stated he understood.”

That woman told Seven Days that she also filed for an order of protection against Eaton. Seven Days was unable to view the order because in New York it is kept private. Between April 2007 and November 2021, Syracuse police say, Jason Eaton was a complainant, victim or otherwise involved in 37 reports made to police agencies in Onondaga County, though he was never arrested or listed as a suspect in a crime.

“I’m not seeing anything where it’s like a big history or anything that’s racially motivated,” said Lt. Matthew Malinowski, a Syracuse police spokesperson.
New York State Police said they’d never arrested or interacted with Eaton. A records search turned up no criminal convictions for Eaton in Vermont, aside from several minor traffic offenses dating back to 1998.

Eaton, who has family in Vermont and previously lived in the state, moved to Burlington over the summer, according to city police.

From left: Tahseen Ali Ahmad, Kinnan Abdalhamid and Hisham Awartani Credit: Courtesy of the Institute for Middle East Understanding

On November 25, Hisham Awartani, Tahseen Ali Ahmad and Kinnan Abdalhamid, all 20 years old, were walking down North Prospect Street past Eaton’s apartment building around 6:30 p.m. when a man approached and, without saying a word, fired four rounds from a Ruger pistol, court records say. Eaton has been charged with three counts of attempted second-degree murder. State and federal investigators are probing whether the shooting was a hate crime.
Two of the victims, college students visiting Burlington for Thanksgiving, were wearing kaffiyehs, a distinctive patterned scarf that is a symbol of Palestinian identity. The young men, who grew up together in the West Bank, said they were speaking a mixture of English and Arabic before they were shot.

Abdalhamid has been released from the hospital but the other two are still receiving treatment. Family members fear Awartani may be paralyzed by the bullet lodged near his spine.

Eaton was being held in prison without bail. In April, he legally purchased the Ruger pistol from a gun shop in Williston. That weapon was seized from Eaton’s apartment on Sunday along with two shotguns and a rifle.