NEW YORK: Police said on Monday a man has been arrested in connection with the Burlington, Vermont shooting of three university students of Palestinian descent, as authorities investigated what they believe was a `hate-motivated crime.

Burlington Police Chief Jon Murad said the suspect, 48-year-old Jason Eaton, was arrested on Sunday and was expected to appear before a judge on Monday.

Evidence collected during a search of Eaton`s apartment, outside of which the shooting took place on Saturday, as well as additional data collected `gave investigators and prosecutors probable cause to believe that Mr Eaton perpetrated the shooting,` Murad said in a statement.

Police had earlier described the shooter as `a white man with a handgun.` `Without speaking,` police said, `he discharged at least four rounds from the pistol and is believed to have fled on foot.` The incident occurred amid high tensions, and occasional vio-lence, on college campuses and elsewhere in the United States over the unrest in the Middle East.

A police statement said two of the victims were in stable condition, and the third suffered `much more serious injuries.` It said two are US citizens and one a legal resident.

While there has been no conclusion of the shooter`s motive, the police confirmed that two of the young men were wearing keffiyehs, the traditional black and white Palestinian scarf.

`In this charged moment, no one can look at this incident and not suspect that it may have been a hate-motivated crime, Murad said in a statement.

The families identified the victims as Hisham Awartani, a student at Brown University in Rhode Island; Kinnan Abdel Hamid, a student at Haverford College in Pennsylvania; and Tahseen Ahmed, who attends Trinity College in Connecticut.

The White House said Monday that `The president and the first lady were horrified,` PressSecretary Karine JeanPierre told reporters.

`These students were taking part in a uniquely American tradition, gathering with family and loved ones to celebrate Thanksgiving. They should be back in school with their classmates, not in a hospital room.

All three victims were graduates of the Ramallah Friends School, a private Quaker school in the West Bank, and are now attending different universities in the northeastern United States, according to a statement from a spokesman for the victims`families.

`As parents,` it read, `we are devastated by the horrific news that our children were targeted and shot....

We call on law enforcement to conduct a thorough investigation. We will not be comfortable until the shooter is brought to justice.` The Arab American Anti-Dis crimination Committee said, `We have reason to believe this shooting occurred because the victims are Arab.` It called on Vermont authorities to investigate the shooting as a hate crime.

Bernie Sanders, the independent US senator from Vermont and a past presidential candidate, called the attack `shocking and deeply upsetting, adding, `Hate has no place here, or anywhere.

The shooting came as civil rights groups have warned of a rise in hate crimes against Arab and Muslim Americans as well as growing anti-Semitism.

Last month, a six-yearold Palestinian-American boy was stabbed to death in Illinois and his mother was wounded. A 71-yearold suspect has pleaded not guilty.-Agencies