A jury convicted Vermont man, Jason Eaton, of attempted murder in the shootings of three Palestinian college students in November of 2023.

Eaton, 51, faces up to life in prison after the attack near the University of Vermont campus in Burlington left Hisham Awartani paralyzed from the waist down and wounded his friends, Tahseen Aliahmad and Kinnan Abdalhamid.

Eaton was ordered to be held in jail pending sentencing, which has yet to be scheduled.

“Justice has been rendered for Hisham, Kinnan and Tahseen. After three years of sorrow, loss, and struggle, our families finally feel relief,” the families of the three men said in a joint statement. “The verdict cannot undo what happened or erase the trauma our families still carry. But it affirms something fundamental: Jason Eaton is responsible for what he did.”

Eaton pleaded not guilty but did not dispute that he was the shooter. His case was previously argued by reason of insanity suggesting that US and Israeli intelligence agencies ordered Eaton to shoot the men.

Had he been found not guilty by reason of insanity, he could have been ordered to undergo mental health treatment.

The shooting happened a few weeks after Israel launched its military assult on Gaza and caused a call for a hate crime investigation into the case but no charges were filed.

Eaton’s lawyers argued he was suffering from a delusional, psychotic disorder and said Eaton claimed to hear “God speaking to him through the radio ordering him to protect his jewish neighbors” which prompted his attack.