Police announced Sunday that a series of reports focusing on “creepy clowns” for the past week have been troubling residents of Bakersfield. Reports claim that the clowns, usually appearing at night, are carrying knives and other weapons while chasing after people around the city.
In a recent incident telephoned to the Bakersfield Police Department, the caller reported a clown armed with a firearm.
According to Lt. Jason Matson:
“We’ve been having sightings all over the city. They range from anywhere from a guy carrying a gun to a guy carrying a knife running up to houses.”
While at least some of the reports have apparently been a hoax, other incidents have been far more threatening and have caused alarm. According to The Bakersfield Californian newspaper, a 16-year-old Liberty High School student was taken into custody Thursday for allegedly posting a threat, anonymously via social media, to “Sandy Hook” his school.
On Friday, police arrested a juvenile that had dressed up as a clown and was chasing children in the western part of Bakersfield. The teenager claimed to be making an effort to further perpetrate a hoax that he had seen online. A news release regarding the incident stated that he was arrested and booked into Kern County Juvenile Hall. The news release also stated that a child which had been chased by him “was clearly scared.”
Originally, the reports all seemed to stem from a photographer perpetrating a lighthearted prank in the spirit of Halloween. Since then, there have been a number of copy cat clowns popping up throughout the city of Bakersfield. While many of the reports seem harmless, claims of clown sightings involving weapons has caused great alarm with the police department.
As of yet, police are unable to link any of the clowns to any criminal activity, but as recent incidents suggest the growing phenomenon has now increased to extremes. A lighthearted Halloween stunt has now taken a very ugly turn.
h/t Reuters
Mark Borop 