CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Beeville Independent School District Police Department took part in immersive training on Thursday at A.C. Jones High School, preparing them to deal with an active shooter threat.
Multiple officers participated in the training, which was organized by retired Special Forces Green Beret Kyle Morgan. He refers to the training as the Protector Mindset.
"Once they start, that clock is ticking and I want, I want from that notification to say, plus five minutes, I want to empower and build the confidence of our responders," Morgan said.
The course spans three days, with Thursday's training serving as the final day to put everything into practice. Prior to retiring, Morgan played a crucial role in ending a 2015 hotel attack with 170 hostages. Drawing from his experience, he now trains first responders to handle active shooter situations.
"I want this to be a standard across our country and I, if that were the case, I, I guarantee our children would be significantly safer," Morgan said.
Morgan founded a company called Blu Bearing Solutions, which provided Beeville ISD Police with non-lethal training rifles. These were utilized in Thursday's training and Beeville ISD Police Chief Art Gamez said it helped make it more realistic.
"That brings reality, that brings pain, that brings a whole different level to our training regimen," Gamez said.
Gamez said his department conduct yearly exercises with at least 20 first responding agencies from around the area. Thursday's training was specifically for Beeville ISD police and he said it enhances the capabilities of their officers.
"You immerse yourself within the situation as best as you possibly can in order to take as much as you possibly can away from it," Gamez said.
Morgan's course also brought a new perspective to Beeville ISD PD. Gamez said it made them realize they were training officers properly since it was formed in 2018.
"We hope to never have to go through this situation," Gamez said. "But if we do, we want to be the best prepared department we can."
Morgan said he knows he will leave Beeville ISD in safe hands with a police force trained even further to confront an active shooter.
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