The victims' families and civil rights organizations are calling on Vermont law enforcement to investigate the shooting as a hate crime.

“The three were walking on Prospect Street when they were confronted by a white male with a handgun,” Murad [BPD chief] wrote. “Without speaking, he discharged at least four rounds from the pistol and is believed to have fled on foot. All three victims were struck, two in their torsos and one in the lower extremities.”

Murad noted in the press release that all three victims are 20-year-old men of Palestinian descent.

“Two are US citizens and one is a legal resident. Two were wearing keffiyehs at the time of the assault,” Murad wrote, in reference to the traditional Palestinian scarf.