Three Palestinian students were shot in Burlington, Vt., on Saturday night, the families of the victims said in a joint statement.

“As parents, we are devastated by the horrific news that our children were targeted and shot,” the families said. “We are extremely concerned about the safety and well-being of our children.”

“We call on law enforcement to conduct a thorough investigation, including treating this as a hate crime. We will not be comfortable until the shooter is brought to justice,” they added.

The students are Hisham Awartani of Brown University, Kinnan Abdalhamid of Haverford College and Tahseen Ali Ahmad of Trinity College. A school in the West Bank said all three were graduates in a Facebook post and Haverford College’s president and dean confirmed in a statement the three students were Palestinians.

President Joe Biden was briefed on the shooting on Sunday and will be updated by law enforcement as the investigation unfolds, the White House said.

Police in Burlington said in a statement that the students were visiting one of the three’s relatives for Thanksgiving when they were “confronted by a white male with a handgun” and that the suspect escaped on foot. Two were shot in the torso and one in the “lower extremities.”

“Without speaking he discharged at least four rounds from the pistol,” Burlington Police Chief Jon Murad said in a statement. He did not identify the victims, but confirmed they were Palestinian and said they were receiving medical care. Two are U.S. citizens and the other is a legal resident, according to police.

"Two were wearing keffiyehs at the time of the assault. At this time, there is no additional information to suggest the suspect’s motive, such as statements or remarks by the suspect," police said. A keffiyeh is a headdress commonly worn by Palestinians.

The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee wrote on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, that they believed the shooting occurred because the students are Arab. They wrote that the students were speaking Arabic when a man “shouted and harassed” them before opening fire.

“Given the information collected and provided, it is clear that the hate was a motivating factor in this shooting," the committee’s executive director Abed Ayoub said in a statement. “We call on law enforcement to investigate it as such. The surge in anti-Arab and anti-Palestinian sentiment we are experiencing is unprecedented, and this is another example of that hate turning violent.” 

The Council on American-Islamic Relations, a major civil rights group, is offering a $10,000 reward for information “leading to the arrest and conviction” of any perpetrator involved in the assault.

“It is shocking and deeply upsetting that three young Palestinians were shot here in Burlington, VT. Hate has no place here, or anywhere. I look forward to a full investigation,” Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders wrote on X. “My thoughts are with them and their families.”

The FBI’s field office in New York said they were aware of the shooting and “are working with our state and local partners in Vermont.”

“If, in the course of the local investigation, information comes to light of a potential federal violation, the FBI is prepared to investigate,” a spokesperson said in a statement. 

Since the war between Israel and Hamas began in early October, hate crimes targeting Jews and Muslims have risen. A 6-year-old Palestinian American boy was stabbed to death and his mother was injured by their Illinois landlord on Oct. 14, officials said. The man was charged with a hate crime after law enforcement said he was motivated by anti-Muslim hate and the ongoing war. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.