2008 Woodie Awards
Lawyer, professor speak about Omesh Hiraman
Gregory Leporati, Editor-in-Chief
Issue date: 10/3/07 Section: News
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Hiraman was arrested soon after walking onto campus and is facing four charges, including criminal possession of a firearm and failure to register a firearm. Both Colleluori and his associate, Rosemarie Rotondi, maintain that Hiraman had no intention of harming anyone.
Colleuori, in an interview with The Torch, said that schizophrenia is often viewed as simply a split-personality disorder. "Part of schizophrenia is paranoia, though," said Colleluori, "which is far more common than split-personality disorder. This is the issue here."
Hiraman, an American citizen of Guyanese descent with no record of violence, was diagnosed with schizophrenia around four years ago, but also suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, according to Colleluori.
"He [Hiraman] underwent a very serious case of post-traumatic stress disorder from viewing 9/11," said Colleluori. "He was 17 or 18 years old, outside of Stuyvesant High School taking pictures, when all of a sudden those planes went into the buildings."
Soon after 9/11, Hiraman helped out at Ground Zero, an action Colleluori noted was "probably an attempt to take control of his environment."
Colleluori went on to say that Hiraman did not exhibit all the signs of post-traumatic stress disorder at first. Since he was around his family and friends immediately after 9/11, Hiraman felt secure and comfortable.
However, when he went off to Cornell for his first year of college in 2003, he began to feel alone and out of his support system.
"Over the years, the post-traumatic stress disorder got worse, because he didn't have the support systems," said Colleluori.
According to Colleluori, Hiraman was an outstanding student at Stuyvesant High School, and was a Cornell scholarship candidate. He performed well his first semester in college, but his grades began to slip.
After taking a year off, Hiraman returned for a third semester at Cornell, but failed two classes, at which point the university suggested he take additional time off, said Colleluori.
In addition to his psychological problems, Colleluori said that Hiraman was also recovering from scoliosis surgery, which was causing him a great deal of pain.
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