City on edge after an officer was attacked

Kat Piantka | Newsroom Manager

March 28, 2025

Tuesday, March 18, 2025 at around 2:15 pm, an Orange County Sheriff’s Deputy was stabbed in the neck with a switchblade near Avenida Pico and Calle de Los Molinos while the officer, as revealed later on X, was performing a “routine homeless outreach near the 1700 block of Avenida Estacion.” 

This shocking news wreaked havoc in San Clemente as this criminal was freely roaming throughout the city, and many feared who his next target could be. As a result, San Clemente High School underwent a lockdown as a precautionary measure to ensure the safety of the students on campus. Many teachers and students alike were paranoid as rumors about the activity in the city circulated in the classrooms. Thankfully, students were released from campus at around 3:30 pm as there was no longer an immediate threat and the deputy was rushed to the hospital, expected to make a full recovery. 

However, the lockdown generated uneasiness among students over how long they would have to stay at school which could result in unfortunate changes to students’ plans. Jenna Sinden, a member of the girl’s varsity lacrosse team, “was mainly worried [that she] was going to miss [her] game,” causing the team to be “frantic.” The stabbing serves as an eye-opening reminder “that homelessness is a problem” that will not be solved unless the city provides resources in support of this population.   

The following afternoon the alleged suspect, Moses Paulisin, a 5-foot-10, 35-year-old man with brown hair and blue eyes was arrested at San Onofre State Beach. Paulisin is now in custody awaiting his trial date, however, CBS News reports he is expected to be charged with “attempted murder, resisting arrest, and assault with a deadly weapon.” 

The near-death of an Orange County deputy sheriff should serve as a wake-up call for our city as the homelessness problem is continuing to pose a grave threat to the safety and well-being of our community. Paulisin was armed with a deadly weapon and acted out upon another person, others could have fallen victim to his outbursts of violence as he was finally arrested the following day. The mayor and city council must take accountability and ensure that these situations will not become a new normality to put the minds of residents at ease. There is an increased concern for one’s safety in downtown San Clemente after this instance, which affects pedestrians and their likelihood of using the Pacific Coast Highway path or the Beach Trail to exercise. 

For instance, the San Clemente Boys and Girls Cross Country teams are hesitant to run off campus after last week’s homeless activity presenting an unpleasant change to training plans. Since the scene of the crime was located in their running routes, if the decision to stay on campus was not made the programs could have witnessed the almost murder of an Orange County Deputy Sheriff. Emma Harvey, a freshman on the Distance Track team, was bombarded with the news of a lockdown while running during the sixth period; however, she believed that “the school handled the lockdown well” as she felt safe during the nerve-wracking experience and the administration ensured the students were able to leave campus. Even with this situation contained, Harvey feels that “the city should work to condense the homeless to a specific area” which will prevent similar instances of homeless crime from occurring again.

After the events of March 18, 2025, San Clemente citizens are more concerned than ever about the constant presence of homeless people in our community and the threat they pose to their safety. But until the city makes a necessary change, SCHS freshmen can say they survived their first lockdown.