Arrested St. John’s Student Dreamed of Navy:

Before I get to the headline police are saying that the single shot-gun carried by Omesh Hiraman on to the St. John’s campus was loaded and ready to fire.

Now on to the headline. Hiraman’s lawyer, the amusing Anthony Colleluori, has added another part to the story of why Hiraman brought the gun to campus.

“My client is suffering badly from health issues — both mental and physical,” Mr. Colleluori said.

“His big dream was to join the Navy and become an astronaut, and his dream was crushed,” he added.

Mr. Hiraman has suffered from scoliosis since childhood, the lawyer said, which forced him to drop his plan to enter the Navy. He then became depressed, left Cornell University, and was diagnosed with schizophrenia, Mr. Colleluori said. After a year off, Mr. Hiraman was trying to restart his academic career at St. John’s this fall.

“The pain, I don’t think he was up for it,” Mr. Colleluori said, adding about his purchase of a gun last week: “My thinking on that is it was a protective action, but I can’t rule out suicide.”

Ok, for those keeping score we’ve had schizophrenia, unmedicated schizophrenia, bad reaction to pain meds, 9/11, and now broken dreams of becoming an astronaut as possible reasons that Mr. Colleluori has given for the reason Hiraman took the gun on campus.

As far as going for the suicide defense I’m not buying it. Granted it was a single shot-gun but then why wear a mask as well?

I really want to give Omesh Hiraman the benefit of the doubt. I do believe he was legitimately mentally ill. But the more his lawyer speaks the more I fear for Hiraman’s well-being.