On Thursday, May 18, 2023, at 1:24 pm, Oceanside police received a call from staff at Palmquist Elementary School reporting that a student saw a suspicious person off campus in a heavily wooded hillside to the west of the campus on the 1800 block of California Street. The
student believed the suspicious person possibly had a weapon. To ensure student safety Palmquist Elementary School, Lincoln Middle School, and Oceanside Adventist School secured their campuses while police responded and searched the area.
Containment of the area where the suspicious person was last seen was quickly set up on the hillside and valley below. A search team searched the hillside while a separate search team simultaneously conducted a safety sweep of the school grounds. The Oceanside Police Unmanned Aerial Team was also deployed and assisted in the search of the hillside. Once all campuses were cleared and no threat to safety was located, campus lockdown protocols were lifted. The searches did not result in locating the suspicious person or any weapons in the area.
Police units remained at all three school sites and the surrounding area for the remainder of the school day. Out of an abundance of caution, Oceanside police will add additional patrols of the area again tomorrow, in addition to the School Resource Officer, who patrols school sites regularly.
The Oceanside Police Department takes all suspicious activity reports seriously and will continue to investigate this incident. We encourage all always to report any suspicious activity immediately.
For media inquiries regarding this incident, please contact Oceanside Police Department Public Information Officer Jennifer Atenza at (760) 277-5237 or email jatenza@oceansideca.org.
