‘I genuinely believed both my friends were dead': Vermont shooting victim speaks

One of the three Palestinian college students shot in Burlington, Vt., over Thanksgiving weekend shared his story in an interview Friday.

Kinnan Abdalhamid spoke with NBC News Now, describing the horrific series of events when he and his friends Hisham Awartani and Tahseen Ali Ahmad were shot while out for a walk.

"Across the sidewalk we see this man standing on his porch, looking away," Abdalhamid said. "He turned around, and as soon as he saw us, he ran down the steps, pulled out a pistol and started shooting. He first shot my friend Tahseen, which I soon heard the thud of his body on the ground and him start screaming, and that was my signal to run. Then I soon heard another pistol shot while running hit Hisham, and his thud [as he] hit the floor."

Abdalhamid said he jumped a fence, and he believes that's when he was shot.

"I hid behind the backyard of a random house for about a minute or two, just trying to gather my thoughts. I was shaking and I genuinely believed both my friends were dead."

After gathering up his courage, he said he realized that the shooter could be after him, and that if his friends had any chance of surviving he needed to call 911 as soon as possible.

"I kind of ran-slash-limped my way to another house behind the backyard of that house," he said.

Police arrived soon after, and said Awartani might have saved his friends' lives by hitting his phone's SOS button after being shot.

Later, at the hospital, Abdalhamid said he and his friends were talking about why the gunman went after them.

"Of course, probably because we were speaking Arabic," he said they concluded. "We didn't even discuss it. It was just like an instant conclusion because we can't think of anything else. I have heard of other Palestinians being beat up, stabbed or humiliated, but I certainly didn't expect to be shot."

Abdalhamid, Awartani and Ahmad, all age 20 and attending colleges in the eastern U.S., were visiting Awartani's uncle and his family for last week's holiday break. The three have been friends since first grade at Ramallah Friends School, a private school in the West Bank. While they were out for a walk Saturday night after a family birthday party, a man approached them and shot them without saying a word, they told police.

The young men were speaking in a mix of English and Arabic and two of them were also wearing the black-and-white Palestinian keffiyeh scarves when they were shot, police said.

Abdalhamid was shot in the glutes and was released from the hospital earlier this week. Ahmad was shot in the chest and Awartani in the spine. A bullet that is still lodged in Awartani's spine is unlikely to be removed and he is currently paralyzed from the chest down, his uncle said. His family doesn't yet know what his long-term prognosis is.

The suspected gunman, Jason J. Eaton, 48, was arrested Sunday at his apartment, where he answered the door with his hands raised and told federal agents he had been waiting for them. Eaton has pleaded not guilty to three counts of attempted murder and is currently being held without bail.

Authorities are investigating the shooting as a possible a hate crime.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.