Creepy Clown reports; summary and timeline of a week’s scary happenings

The Creepy Clown threat reports are becoming less of a joke as kids start to fear there might be something to really worry about. As reports of the Clowns spread across the USA, the scary happenings are causing school closures and costing the Police a lot of time and frustration. With Halloween less than a month away, there are more concerns emerging, as there will be more people dressed as Clowns out on the streets.

People are asking about the Clown threat, so hereis a timeline and summary over the past week.

29 September

The media carried several Creepy Clown stories.

WWNY TV reported that “Creepy Clown” had made its way to the north country as the St Lawrence Sheriffs office reported they were investigating complaints from the severalhigh schools where children reported getting threats from Facebook Accounts showing clown images. At the time the Police believed these threats were of juvenile origin and did not pose a serious threat.

The same day KTVI reported that Rolla Policeofficers were frustrated with the amount of time and effort involved inthe Creepy Clown reports. Only one was legitimate and that turned out to be a prank. But in Largo, a Tampa Bay Times report said that a school girl told police she was chased by a Clown while whilewaiting for her bus.

Police said parents should talk to their children as it is illegal to wear a mask and threaten someone. Onceagain, indications are that juveniles were involved.

30 September

The 30th saw a rash of news coverage about clowns. Suffolk Police investigated reports ofa group of Clowns jumping in front of cars in Brentwood, and another spotted in North Babylon.

They were not able to confirm any of the reports. Long Island Press reported that on the same day “two Long Island school districts initiated “lockout” procedures after clown-related social media threats that were later unsubstantiated.”

Pasco County Sheriff’s Office investigated social media threats after the Pasco County School district put their campuses on alert after a Clown threat alert that originated on Twitter.

Classes continued as there was no reason to believe the threat was credible.

Asbury Park Press reported that school officials were dealing with a Creepy Clown threat at Toms River East High School. Superintendent David Healy said,“the hoax originated from a group of pranksters in Missouri who reportedly drew inspiration from the 2016 movie ‘Clown.’”

The Flagler Sheriff’s office tweeted that the threats involved violence but werenot thought to be real.

Fox 29 reportedIndian River County experienced a handful of Clown reports.

A woman walking a dog reportedly saw oneand a father reported children chased by person in a mask. Police founda boy chasing his sister while wearing a mask. Again reports were put down to juvenile pranksand Indian River County Sheriff Loar indicated that these incidents involved teenagers.

October

The Clown Threat is growing into a trend and according to CBS, Homeland security is workingto investigate “Instagram posts in Philadelphia.” In Cincinnati a juvenile was arrested.On 3 October Fox2Now carried a story about St.Louis Countywhich was experiencing threats targetingschools. KHOU reported sightings in San Antonio on the East Coast. Reports have come in across Houston, Chesterfield and Austin.

Police are now getting serious about bringing hoaxers to justice. Gulf News reports that across multiple States Police have arrested twelve people so far. Of those arrested some made false reports, otherswore clown suits to scare people and others made cyber-threats. Pranks are not funny when people start to get hurt and one person’s death was reportedly linked to a Clown.

According to Gulf News, psychiatrists attribute the phenomenon to“Mass Hysteria” and many false reports have been made as people tend to want to feel connected to headline events.