NEW CANEY, Texas – It was in February of this year when KPRC 2 Investigates first showcased a new training facility in Montgomery County designed to help keep children safe.
The facility, which is housed inside of the old Keefer Crossing Middle School, had been taken over by Montgomery County officials to continuously train law enforcement on active shooter situations on school campuses.
The one problem? The facility, which consists of 230,000 square feet of classrooms and hallways, only had temporary blueprints at the time.
However, it is now undergoing permanent changes after lawmakers in Austin allocated $23 million dollars during the legislative session to build the state’s first Special Threat Training Facility, which also has been referred to as “an active shooter training lab,”
“The goal is to have this entire facility and everything that we want to do up and running by the end of next year,” said Jason Millsaps with the Office of the Montgomery County Judge.
Officials anticipate approximately 10 employees will make up the staff to help train thousands of law enforcement officers a year, “We would like to average anywhere from 2500 to 3500 a year,” said Millsaps.
Since our initial report, approximately 750 more officers have gone through the school for training. They also are coming from not only all over the region as well as the state, but also from other states.
The whole concept initially was a dream for Daniel Peña, who is now helping lead instruction at the facility. In Peña’s opinion, the school is not only making the grade for law enforcement but also changing it. The bottom line for all the officials we spoke with, it will better ensure the safety of children in Texas classrooms and beyond, “This is going to be one of the premier training facilities in my opinion,” said Peña.
Montgomery County plans to build 40 dormitories inside the school to allow officers from outside the region to not only train onsite but also to spend the night there.
