PHOENIX – The college where the Tucson shooting suspect once was a student released emails on Thursday that were written in the months before he was suspended.

They painted a picture of Jared Lee Loughner, charged in the shooting of U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and others, as a struggling student with emotional problems who disturbed others with his odd behavior .

Pima Community College was ordered to release 250 emails after The Arizona Republic sued it for withholding documents mentioning Loughner.

A judge rejected the school’s argument that the records were protected by a privacy law.

The emails document several outbursts by Loughner while at the school and efforts by school officials to confront his unusual behavior. A campus police officer wanted to expel Loughner after he caused an outburst in a math class in June 2010. But a dean said she wasn’t ready to do so and expressed concerns about his due-process rights.

Three months before the shooting rampage, campus police asked federal firearms agents to see whether they had any firearms information on Loughner, but the check turned up nothing, according to the emails.

The apparent final straw was a Sept. 23, 2010, disturbance by Loughner. Campus police records say a teacher asked an officer to meet her outside her classroom to deal with Loughner because he was “being verbal disruptive.” They do not elaborate on what Loughner allegedly did.

Six days later, officers went to Loughner’s home to serve an immediate suspension notice. He was told to get a mental health evaluation or not return.