A campus in morning

TUCSON, Ariz. -- Robert Stewart Flores Jr. struggled as a nursing student at the University of Arizona. Classmates said he tangled with instructors and annoyed fellow students.\n"He came across as very aggressive and mean and seemed to have a lot of issues with being angry," said Lori Schenkel, a fellow nursing student.\nAuthorities said Flores' anger boiled over Monday when he allegedly shot three of his professors to death during a rampage at the College of Nursing that sent dozens of terrified students diving for cover.\nOfficials said the 41-year-old Gulf War veteran had been carrying five handguns and at least 200 rounds of ammunition. After shooting the three staff members, Flores turned one of the guns on himself.\n"Mr. Flores went in there to create a holy hell for our community," Tucson police Chief Richard Miranda said. "I can't imagine what the building would look like if he didn't have a sudden change of mind."\nBomb squad members were called in after a backpack or package was found underneath the gunman's body. The suspect had threatened to blow up the building, though it was unclear when the threat was made, police said. The college and nearby buildings were evacuated but no explosives were found.\nThe nursing school remained closed Tuesday, with police tape blocking access. Many employees at the medical school complex embraced as they went into work. Some were dressed in black.\n"I feel terrible this morning," said Melody Pelot, 55, who works at the college of medicine. "As I walked past the police tape I thought, 'This is just mind boggling. Someone lost their mother, their wives, in that building.'"\nPolice said Flores first killed assistant professor Robin Rogers, 50, in her office on the second floor of the nursing school building. He then went to the fourth floor, where he entered a classroom full of students taking a test being given by two teachers.\nThere he confronted associate professor Cheryl McGaffic, a 44-year-old ethics teacher who studied death and dying and the relationship between health and spirituality in seriously ill patients.\nHe told McGaffic "he was going to give her a lesson in spirituality," said student Laura Kelley. Witnesses said Flores fired two shots into McGaffic's chest and stood directly over her as he shot her in the head.\nAssistant professor Barbara Monroe, 45, was allegedly Flores' last target. She was cowering behind a desk as Flores approached, witnesses said. "He asked her if she was ready to meet her maker. She said 'Yes,' and then he shot her once and then twice more," said student Gena Johnson.\nFlores worked at the Veterans Affairs hospital in Tucson as a licensed practical nurse and was studying to become a registered nurse. He was employed by a nursing agency, said Spencer Ralston, associate director for the Southern Arizona VA Health Care System.\nFlores failed a pediatric nursing class and was struggling in a critical care class this term, said University Vice Provost Elizabeth Irvin. An exam on critical care was being administered when the gunman burst into McGaffic and Monroe's classroom.\nSchenkel said Flores bragged to pediatrics classmates last year that he had received a concealed weapons permit. She said he seemed to enjoy calling attention to himself by asking inappropriate questions and challenging instructors. He failed that class and had to take it again, Schenkel said.\n"Most of the people in class didn't like him," Schenkel said. "He was very obnoxious and rude."\nUniversity police Chief Anthony Daykin said a university staff member filed a report with the police in April 2001 saying "Flores conveyed to staff he was depressed and may take action against the college of medicine." Police attempted to contact Flores but Daykin didn't know if they had been successful.