Threats of creepy clowns luring children into the woods and attacking kids at school have been spreading like wildfire in the South, forcing a number of establishment into lockdowns, police say.
But the bulk of these threats are mere hoaxes and pranks, which originated on social media, and the police are trying to curb them for good.
The ‘Clownpocalypse’ began in North and Carolina last month when unconfirmed reports of clown-masked figures luring children into the woods by offering them treats sent the state into a frantic state of coulrophobia and subsequently spread to other parts of the South.
Last week, police authorities in the Alabama town of Flomaton identified and arrested two juveniles and one adult who had ridden the “clown” fear wave to make threats of violence against local schools on Facebook. Flomaton police then had to order a “soft lockdown,” forcing students and teachers in hiding while they searched for the elusive circus act.
Alabama police forces now report that similar threats are popping up almost daily, and security has been heightened at multiple schools throughout the state as result.
This week alone, three troubling incidents have put a strain on authorities and tested deputies’ patience. After someone threatened on social media to go on a shooting rampage on Monday, extra officers were dispatched to Sak Middle School in Calhoun County, only to find nothing out of the ordinary. A 16-year-old suspect was arrested on charges of terrorist threats.
Similar incidents occurred on the same day in Etowah County and in Montgomery, Alabama.
In Georgia, a fearful 11-year-old was arrested at Burney-Harris-Lyons Middle School in Athens on Friday and taken to be questioned after she had been found carrying a knife to school. Her excuse? She needed the weapon to fend off dangerous clowns.
“She said that the reason she had the knife was for protection for her and her family because she had heard the stories about clowns jumping out of the woods and attacking children” an Athens-Clarke County police record says.
Local police in both states have asked families to take precautionary measures by monitoring their children’s activities, and to explain to minors that these threats could have serious consequences.
“If you post something like this, and you come out making terroristic threats, we will do everything in our power to prosecute you,” The Montgomery Country Sheriff said “We are taking this seriously. This is not a game.”
