Blacksburg, Va. — Cho Seung-Hui, the student responsible for yesterday’s mass killing at Virginia Tech, was a “troubled” student, Carolyn Rude, chair of the university’s English department, said today.

Cho Seung-Hui, 23, is identified by police as the gunman (Virginia State Police, AP Images)

Within the past two years, she said, faculty members repeatedly reported their concern about things the 23-year-old student had written in his creative-writing courses.

The chair of the English department at the time, Lucinda Roy, passed those concerns along to administrators, Ms. Rude said.

“Enough faculty called it to the attention of the then-chair,” Ms. Rude said. She would not elaborate about what Mr. Cho had written, nor would she describe his behavior, saying she did not know him.

The Associated Press reported that Mr. Cho had left a note in his dorm room complaining about “rich kids,” “debauchery,” and “deceitful charlatans.” —Robin Wilson