by Guy Page
The accused shooter of three Palestinian men Saturday, November 25 in Burlington has a lengthy police interaction history that includes reports of mental illness, domestic abuse, and unwanted behavior towards women. That history, as reported by Seven Days, does not include any religious/political explanation for the alleged shooting.
Seven Days editor Sasha Goldstein dug into Eaton’s background in his November 30 story, “Defendant in Triple Shooting Had Alarmed Two Ex-Partners.” [Editor’s aside: When it comes to indepth reporting, no-one in Vermont does it better than Seven Days, as this story demonstrates.] Here’s some of what he found:
- In 2013, a Syracuse, NY woman told police she had been in a domestic relationship with him and had been a victim of abuse. She gave police a shotgun he owned, saying she wanted no contact with him.
- The woman told police Eaton had a history of mental illness.
- Six years later, another woman asked DeWitt, NY police to tell Eaton to stay away from her, after she had received text messages of a sexual nature. Police did so and Eaton complied. She filed a protection order against him, she said.
- Between 2007 and 2021, Eaton was involved as a complainant, victim or otherwise in 37 reports to Onandaga County police agencies.
- “I’m not seeing anything where it’s like a big history or anything that’s racially motivated,” Lt. Matthew Malinowski of the Syracuse Police Dept. said.
Eaton is being held in prison without bail, after pleading innocent to three charges of attempted murder. The victims are all recovering.
The failure, as yet, to uncover any racial or religious ‘hate crime’ motive for the killing has left some Vermont pundits apparently groping for a public policy angle. “This ought to spark a serious look at our gun laws, but I ain’t holding my breath,” said John Walters, publisher of The VPO.