Pima Community College, which suspended Jared Lee Loughner just weeks before he gunned down 19 people in a Tucson parking lot, has been stonewalling Tucson stations in recent weeks, refusing to speak about the actions it took in handling the troubled young man.
NBC-affiliate KVOA became the first Tucson station to speak with PCC since the days immediately following the shooting. Reporter Sandy Rathbun sat down with an attorney representing the college this week for an interview that aired on Thursday night (video above).
In the interview, attorney Alice Callison said that the college dealt with Loughner “in a reasonable fashion based on what we knew at the time.” She added that the school has not changed its policies since the shooting.
In October, PCC suspended Loughner for being disruptive in class but did not report the incident to authorities.
The school sent out a memo to Tucson news outlets earlier this week that outlined “errors” that have appeared in various media reports about PCC’s handling of Loughner.
Following KVOA’s interview, ABC-affiliate KGUN continued its search for answers, posting a list of questions for PCC on its website. KGUN has also filed public records requests with PCC seeking documents regarding Loughner and the school’s policies on discipline.
Although PCC broke its silence this week, it’s apparent that there will be much more local coverage to follow.