Southside Estates Elementary School. | Google maps
Published on May 14, 2025 at 3:33 pm
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A substitute teacher was arrested at Southside Estates Elementary School on Tuesday after two guns, a knife and ammunition were found in his car, police said.
Abdiel Badillo-Martinez, 29, remains behind bars on charges of carrying concealed weapons in elementary/secondary school facility and possession of a short-barreled gun. He was arrested on the school campus.
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School officials learned of the issue about 9 a.m. when an employee told a security officer that she had seen a handgun when someone helped Badillo-Martinez get inside his locked car, an arrest report said.
The substitute teacher told a school employee that he had a weapon in his car because he was homeless and had nowhere to keep it.
School district police were contacted and searched his car, finding two guns, a knife and multiple rounds of ammunition, including some in a zippered bag, the report said.
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In a message to parents, Principal Teresa Dowdell-Brown said that as police were investigating, she moved students from the building and “limited the movement of students throughout the entire school.”
“It is illegal to have firearms anywhere on school property. 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,” Dowdell-Brown’s message said. “The safety of your children is our first goal, and we all share in the partnership to keep our campus secure.”
The principal also said that it did not appear that Badillo-Martinez was armed while in the classroom or in the school building.
District spokesperson Laureen Rick said substitute teachers — like all school district employees — must undergo a criminal background check that includes fingerprinting processed by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the FBI.
State statutes outline the offenses that disqualify people from employment in any position that requires direct contact with students in a school district, charter school or private school, she said.
Conviction for certain “serious offenses” can disqualify an applicant from employment — as well as other information that indicates the person may be unsuitable, the statute says.
Badillo-Martinez has no previous civil or criminal cases filed with the Duval County Clerk of Court and no previous arrests by the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office.
The school district uses a national company called ESS to manage its substitute teacher and substitute paraprofessional program.
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