Abdiel Badillo-Martinez, 29, informed authorities that he acquired the weapons during his tenure as a police officer in Puerto Rico, according to a report from the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — On Tuesday, a Duval County Public Schools substitute teacher was taken into custody after school police found multiple firearms and ammunition in his vehicle, as detailed in a Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office arrest report.
The report indicates that around 9 a.m. on Tuesday, a staff member at Southside Estates Elementary School alerted school police that a substitute teacher, identified as Abdiel Badillo-Martinez, 29, confessed to her that he stored firearms in his car because he was homeless and had no alternative storage options.
The employee told police she saw a gun on the floorboard of Badillo-Martinez’s vehicle when she helped him get a “Pop A Lock” to open his vehicle Monday after school, the report states.
When searching Badillo-Martinez’s vehicle, police found two loaded firearms and a “large amount of ammunition,” the report states. A Glock 23 was found under the driver’s seat exposed, an AR pistol was found in the back seat up against the passenger seat and a knife was found in the center console, the report states. A ballistic vest was also located.
A section of the report intended to be redacted, which was legible to First Coast News, stated Badillo-Martinez told police he had acquired the firearms when he was a police officer in Puerto Rico. He further advised that he hadn’t been a police officer for more than four years.
Teresa Dowdell-Brown, the school principal, said in a statement to parents that while police conducted their investigation, students were cleared from the building where Badillo-Martinez had been teaching. Students then returned to their classrooms after it was determined the building was safe.
“While it does not appear that he was armed while in the classroom or in the school building, it is illegal to have firearms anywhere on school property,” Dowdell-Brown said. “As a result of this incident, the substitute will be blocked from working in our school or in any Duval County Public School in the future.”
Badillo-Martinez faces charges of possession of a short-barreled gun, rifle or machine gun and carrying a concealed weapon or firearm in any elementary/secondary school facility or administration building.
