Baldwin Principal Arrested: K-9 Finds Handgun on School Grounds

A Duval County principal faces a weapons charge after a K-9 unit alerted police to a handgun in his vehicle on the grounds of Baldwin Middle-Senior High School. Michael Smith, the school's principal, received a Notice to Appear on Sept. 15 for possessing a firearm on school property, a second-degree misdemeanor.

Duval County School Police responded to a tip alleging a firearm on campus. Chief of Police Jackson Short and another officer met with Smith in his office. Smith acknowledged owning a firearm but refused to consent to a search of his vehicle. Police then deployed K-9 Maverick, a certified firearms-detection canine, for an exterior sniff of vehicles in the front parking lot.

K-9 Maverick indicated a firearm odor near the driver's side door of one truck, sitting intently as trained. Following a second positive indication at the same location, Smith consented to the search. Chief Short found a Sig Sauer P226 .40-caliber semiautomatic handgun in the center console, housed in a holster with a loaded magazine containing 13 rounds.

School board policy prohibits firearms on campus, with no exceptions for employees or vehicles parked on school grounds. Smith has been reassigned pending a criminal and district investigation. DCPS Superintendent Dr. Christopher Bernier stated, "At no time is it safe for anyone to be on our campuses with a gun."

The district is reviewing its hiring process. Bernier noted that while the process cannot foresee poor judgment, the "see something, say something" approach worked. Bernier, Regional Superintendent Tim Simmons, and another district official will lead Baldwin Middle-Senior High School as an interim team while a permanent replacement is sought.