Police, Stephen King weigh in on creepy clown sightings

“There could be a variety of charges to look at by obviously one of the possibilities is terroristic threats”, said Mike Glassberg, Hopkins police public information officer.

He said they had a small group of people gathering at both Pebble Hills and Americas high schools on Tuesday evening after word spread of clown sightings in those areas. They’re scary looking. They’re scary looking clowns. Then more calls came in for a reported clown in the 1400 block of South Peoria Avenue.

Ottawa’s French Catholic school board notified parents on Wednesday of the clown “menace”, pointing to a specific Instagram account called “Clowns of Ottawa”.

“Undoubtedly as Halloween approaches, we anticipate an uptick in clown sightings”, the department said in a news release.

Across the country reports of creepy clowns are taking over social media and with Halloween in sight, clown costumes are flying off the shelves. Rather, it’s the “sensationalized headlines” and overreaction from the social media regarding these scary clown sightings.

The clown sightings began last month in the U.S. state of SC around the town of Greenville and were initially believed to be promotional stunt for a horror movie.

On Wednesday in Collier County, robbers wearing clown masks beat a Naples man and stole his vehicle. More than a dozen incidents have been since reported in the US, as the phenomenon spreads via social media.

Time magazine reports that while many incidents in America were hoaxes, a handful resulted in arrests. “You have to admire that”, he said Thursday, adding he hopes his customers are in it to scare adults.

The event says it’s to show the public that not all clowns are bad.

“My kids were showing me YouTube videos of clowns running around after people”, Iris Tirado said from the clown aisle at Easley’s Fun Shop in Phoenix.

A 13-year-old girl in Virginia was charged after sending a message to someone posing as a creepy cown on social media, asking that they kill her teacher. “He’s not going to have to make any more money”, she said.

It’s happening Saturday Oct. 15 on Fourth Avenue, and will start in the Maloney’s parking lot at 6:30 p.m.