Tucson shooting suspect's school releases records

Pima County Sheriff's Dept., AP

Nearly 3,000 pages of documents released by an Arizona community college that Jared Loughner attended show how school administrators struggled to keep up with a flood of media requests and protect its own image after the January shooting rampage in Tucson.

EnlargeClosePima County Sheriff's Dept., AP

Nearly 3,000 pages of documents released by an Arizona community college that Jared Loughner attended show how school administrators struggled to keep up with a flood of media requests and protect its own image after the January shooting rampage in Tucson.

In the thousands of emails and documents released by Pima Community College on Friday, none was dated before the Jan. 8 shooting and most were requests by members of the media for information on Jared Lee Loughner, the suspect in the shooting that killed six and wounded 13, including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.

Requests included questions about whether the college ever sought to get Loughner a mental health evaluation when he was a student at the college, or whether he threatened to kill anyone on campus. The college either refused to answer questions or released short, prepared statements.

Loughner began attending classes at the college in 2005, but was eventually kicked out because of behavior campus police considered disturbing. He was told to get a mental health evaluation or not return.

In one email, college Chancellor Roy Flores told all employees that national news media organizations had sent teams of reporters to campus looking for anyone who knew Loughner. He instructed them not to delete any emails mentioning Loughner so the college could comply with public records laws.

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