Potential threat to TAMUK

UPD and KPD respond to incident on campus

This is a developing story

On Wednesday, Nov. 1 Texas A&M University Kingsville (TAMUK) faculty, staff and students received an email regarding an incident occurring on campus at 3:39 p.m..          

“This afternoon the Kingsville Police Department was serving a warrant when their suspect ran from authorities and was chased to Lot I and K near the NCAA Sports Complex on the university campus. University police are at the location assisting. Please steer clear of the area.”

The University Police Department (UPD) of TAMUK utilized their drones in their attempt to locate the suspect from the drainage near the National Collegiate Athletic Association Sports Complex on campus.

The Kingsville Police Department (KPD) and UPD used pepper ball guns as a non- lethal approach in their attempt to draw out the suspect. 

KPD and UPD surrounded the area to ensure the safety of TAMUK faculty, staff, and students on campus.

“I do think [the email] is a little vague but I do think they are just trying to put something out as quickly as possible. Hopefully they’re going to send out another email today to explain the situation and what happened. But for the [pepper ball guns] that doesn’t bother me I think they’re just trying to do their job and make sure we’re safe,” eyewitness and student Bayley Boehme said. 

At 4:58 p.m. a follow- up email was sent, the message is as follows:

“University police, together with the Kingsville Police Department, have searched areas on campus and no longer believe the suspect who fled from KPD earlier this afternoon is on campus. The suspect originally fled from KPD after authorities attempted to serve a search warrant off-campus. University police have given an all clear for the campus community. As always, if you see any suspicious activity on campus, immediately report it to the Texas A&M University-Kingsville police department at (361) 593-2611.”