K-9 leads DCPS police to handgun in Baldwin principal’s vehicle on campus, police report reveals

Michael Smith, principal at Baldwin Middle-Senior High School, was issued a Notice to Appear on Sept.

Official response and confirmed impact

15 on a charge of possession of a firearm on school property, a second-degree misdemeanor. He was not taken into custody.

According to his arrest report, Duval County School Police received a tip that a firearm was present on school grounds, prompting Chief of Police Jackson Short and another officer to respond to the school in Baldwin.

Officers met with Smith in his office, where Chief Short read him his constitutional rights from a printed form.

Smith signed the form, acknowledging he understood those rights, according to the report.

Chief Short told Smith that a tip had been received alleging he had a handgun inside his vehicle, which was parked on school property.

According to the report, Smith acknowledged owning a firearm but declined to consent to a search of his vehicle, saying his firearms were kept at his home.

Incident background

Officers then deployed K-9 Maverick, a trained and certified firearms-detection canine, to conduct an exterior sniff of approximately 11 vehicles parked in the school’s front parking lot.