By Gabriella Borter(Reuters) -The families of three Palestinian students attending U.S. colleges who were shot on Saturday in Vermont called on U.S. officials to investigate the incident as a hate crime, as they awaited updates on their children's recovery on Sunday.
Burlington police have not identified or apprehended a shooter, and have not commented on a possible motive.
"We call on law enforcement to conduct a thorough investigation, including treating this as a hate crime.
The students had been speaking Arabic and wearing the traditional Palestinian keffiyeh, the Palestinian foreign ministry said on Sunday, calling on U.S. authorities to hold those responsible to account.
The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, a U.S.-based advocacy organization, also called on state and federal law enforcement to investigate the shooting as a hate crime in a statement on Sunday.
Persons:
Gabriella Borter, Hisham Awartani, Kinnan Abdel Hamid, Tahseen Ahmed, Abed Ayoub, —, Hisham, Josie Kao
Organizations:
Brown University, Haverford College, Trinity College in, University of Vermont, Institute for Middle, Burlington Police, University of Vermont Medical Center, Ramallah Friends School, West Bank, Facebook
Locations:
Vermont, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Trinity College in Connecticut, Burlington, Palestinian, U.S, Israel, Ramallah