Canine Officer Mario Jenkins, 29, was killed outside the Citrus Bowl on 9/24/05 at approximately 5:04 p.m. as fans were arriving for a football game that was starting at 6:00 p.m. between the University of Central Florida and Marshall University. Officer Jenkins, a four-year veteran with the University of Central Florida Police Department, was working with the state to curb underage drinking. Jenkins, who was working undercover wearing street clothes, began work on “Operation Knight Watch” about 2 p.m. and was assisting six other officers and seven agents with the state Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco. The incident started when officer Jenkins tried to break up a drinking party and some turned belligerent. When he encountered resistance he fired shots into the air. A uniformed reserve Orlando Police officer, Dennis R. Smith, 55, who had retired after 25 years on the force in December of 2001, was patrolling on a bicycle and heard the shots that attracted his attention and immediately responded to the scene. Officer Smith not knowing Officer Jenkins was a police officer, fired three shots at him, mortally wounding him in the back. Officer Jenkins, before he collapsed, returned two shots at Officer Smith narrowly missing him. Michael John Young, 23, was also shot in the fracas and was taken to Orlando Regional Medical Center and was listed in fair condition with a gunshot wound to the stomach. A physician at Orlando Regional Medical Center who was near by and attended to Officer Jenkins said he died almost immediately. Officer Jenkins graduated from Tarpon Spring schools and attended Santa Fe Community College in Gainesville and graduated from the college’s Institute of Public Safety in 2000. Officer Jenkins was a K9 officer for six months and his K9’S name was “Makye”. Jenkins had previously worked for the Clermont Police Department in 2001 and had served in the U.S. Marine Corps. Reserves from1994-2000. Jenkins was posthumously promoted to the rank of corporal at the University of Central Florida Police Department on October 1, 2005. His wife Valerie Vaughn Jenkins who he married in 2001 survives him. On October 23, 2007, Valerie Vaughn Jenkins filed a lawsuit against the City of Orlando, Orlando Police Department and Dennis R. Smith. UCF and Sun Trust Bank have established the Mario Jenkins Memorial Trust Fund to benefit his family. Donations can be made at any SunTrust Bank in Central Florida.
Officer Dennis Smith of the Orlando Police Department was cleared December 15, 2005, of any wrongdoing for fatally shooting Officer Jenkins. Michael John Young was charged December 15, 2005 with battery on a law enforcement officer, a third-degree felony, and obstructing or opposing a police officer, a first-degree misdemeanor.
