Last of 3 Palestinian college students shot in Vermont leaves hospital

BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) — A college student of Palestinian descent who was shot and seriously injured in Vermont last month has been released from the hospital. Hisham Awartani will undergo rehabilitation and is the last of the three students shot during their Thanksgiving break. Awartani is paralyzed from the chest down and left the University of Vermont Medical Center on a stretcher Wednesday to clapping. The childhood friends grew up in the West Bank and now attend colleges in the eastern U.S. They were visiting Awartani’s relatives in Burlington when they were shot while walking near the University of Vermont. A suspect has been arrested for the Nov. 25 shooting. Authorities are investigating whether the shooting was a hate crime.