The legal profession is fraught with victims of mental illness. Law students in particular struggle with depression at an alarmingly high rate, which can lead to troubling consequences ranging from domestic violence to drug addiction to alcoholism to suicide.
This weekend, two second-year students from Tulane Law School — Sara LaMont, 25, and Wajih Mazloum, 28 — were found dead in an apartment in New Orleans, Louisiana. Mazloum and LaMont were a couple, and police say that Mazloum shot and killed LaMont before turning the gun on himself. This tragic news comes hot on the heels of five Tulane student deaths last semester, three of whom committed suicide.
Here’s additional information on the disturbing news, from the Times-Picayune:
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The New Orleans Police Department is investigating the shooting death of [LaMont] and the suicide of [Mazloum] on Sunday (Feb. 1) in a duplex in the 5500 block of Willow Street in Uptown New Orleans.
Police responded to the residence around 9:55 a.m. and found [LaMont and Mazloum] dead of gunshot wounds, according to the Orleans Parish Coroner’s Office.
“When officers arrived, a roommate advised that he walked inside of the house and found them shot,” said a NOPD news release. “During the course of the investigation, detectives determined that the male fatally shot his girlfriend and then fatally shot himself. Detectives found a handgun next to the male.”
Thus far, no one knows why Mazloum shot LaMont and then killed himself. According to his LinkedIn bio, Mazloum was a graduate of American University who had an MBA from the University of Rhode Island. Per LaMont’s LinkedIn profile, she was a graduate of the University of Connecticut.
Following news of Mazloum’s and LaMont’s deaths this weekend, Tulane Law Dean David Meyer sent this email to students:
Dear Students and Colleagues,
With a heavy heart, I write to inform you of a terrible tragedy involving two members of our community. Sara LaMont and Wajih Mazloum, members of our second-year class, passed away earlier today. While details concerning this tragedy are still developing, the New Orleans police department is investigating it as an apparent murder-suicide. This is an unfathomable loss to our community and I did not want to delay in sharing what we know.
A native of Connecticut, Sara was an enormously talented student who was well on her way to achieving her high school dream of becoming a leader in the sports industry. Wajih, a native of Rhode Island, had worked as an accountant and financial analyst for a global oil services company in Dubai before coming to law school. I will express the condolences of our entire community to Sara and Wajih’s families and will share additional information on memorial plans as they develop. In the meantime, please reach out and support one another at this extremely difficult time.
A range of counseling and other support are available on campus and at the law school. The University’s Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) team is available on-call today and tonight at (504) 920-9900. Individual, in-person counseling and grief support services will be available tomorrow on a walk-in basis, beginning at 8:30 a.m. at the CAPS’s offices on campus (http://tulane.edu/health/counseling-and-psychological-services.cfm). In addition, we will hold an open forum with Dr. Donna Bender, Director of Counseling Services at CAPS, at 11:30 a.m. in Room 110, to discuss resources available for dealing with this profound loss. I encourage all of you to be there for one another and to take advantage of these support services.
Sincerely,
David Meyer
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We here at Above the Law would like to extend our condolences and sympathies to Sara LaMont’s and Wajih Mazloum’s family, friends, and colleagues.
If you’re involved in a verbally or physically abusive relationship, there are friends, family, and colleagues you can call. If you’re a victim of domestic violence, reach out if you need help, before it’s too late. If you feel that you are in immediate danger, please call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233).
If you’re depressed and in need help, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (1-800-273-8255) or a lawyer assistance program in your state.
Two dead in murder-suicide Uptown, New Orleans police say [Times-Picayune]