A bizarre sequence of events unfolded at the Texas A&M System Wednesday, beginning with a high-profile firing and ending with a police escort.
The Eagle first reported Wednesday night that A&M System chancellor John Sharp decided deputy chancellor Jay Kimbrough’s job was no longer necessary. A system spokesman told the paper the decision was a reduction in force.
Later in the day, university police were called to System headquarters in south College Station after reports of a man with a knife. That man was apparently Jay Kimbrough.
Kimbrough later told The Texas Tribune it was well-known he carried a pocketknife and he never threatened anyone.
He said as he sat with A&M System attorneys discussing the process of his termination, Kimbrough pulled out the knife but was “just joking” and “just saying I was not going to be intimidated.”
Officers later escorted Kimbrough from the building but no arrests were made. Kimbrough asserts that he did not threaten anyone.
Sharp later e-mailed System employees informing them of his decision and thanking Kimbrough for his service. But Kimbrough tells the Tribune his firing was an ambush and he received no advance warning from anyone, including longtime friend Governor Rick Perry.
Kimbrough was long seen as a troubleshooter for Perry, taking over various troubled state agencies on an interim basis. He was also appointed interim chancellor of the A&M System when Mike McKinney stepped down earlier this year.