SAN DIEGO — Three North County schools were placed on lock down Thursday afternoon after a student reported seeing a suspicious person in the area, authorities said.

According to the Oceanside Police Department, a call came in around 1:24 p.m. from a staff member at Palmquist Elementary School reporting that a student saw an unknown individual in a heavily wooded hillside to the west of the campus on the 1800 block of California Street.

The staff member also reported that the student believed the suspicious person possibly had a weapon, police said. After the call, OPD says Palmquist Elementary School, Lincoln Middle School and Oceanside Adventist School were all locked down while police responded and searched the area.

A team searched the hillside where the student reported seeing the individual while a separate search team simultaneously conducted a safety sweep of the school grounds, OPD explained. An aerial team was also deployed and assisted in search efforts.

Once all campuses were cleared and authorities determined there was no threat to safety, police say campus lockdown protocols were lifted for all three North County schools. According to OPD, a suspicious person was not located and no weapons were found in the area.

Police units remained at all three school sites and the surrounding area for the remainder of
the school day Thursday. OPD says additional patrols of the area will take place Friday “out of an abundance of caution.”

Local authorities have encouraged the public to always to report any suspicious activity immediately. OPD says they will continue to investigate this incident.