Pa. clown sightings: Police responding to another possible incident
WILKES-BARRE — A 911 caller reported a scene from a nightmare: An angry-looking clown in a wooded area holding a knife behind Kistler Elementary School.
By the time police responded to the call about 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, they found no trace of the reported clown.
“Once we got down there we found nothing,” Wilkes-Barre police Sgt. Brett Smith said.
ANOTHER PA CLOWN SIGHTING: Police investigating report of clowns yelling at children
Wednesday’s clown call was the first Wilkes-Barre City police had experienced, Sgt. Smith said, but a second report of a clown at Kistler Elementary came over scanner chatter Thursday afternoon.
Sgt. Smith said the department takes every report seriously, even if they have yet to encounter a clown.
“I’m not sure if it’s just some huge Halloween prank, but that’s not saying don’t be cautious,” he said.
Police throughout the area have been investigating reports of clowns in their communities.
In Pottsville, police responded to a report of two clowns, one dressed in orange, the other in black, yelling at children on Monday night, according to the Associated Press.
A 12-year-old witness said a clown chased her and her friends before going into a wooded area. She said the clown then picked up a stick and yelled obscenities.
The reported clowns had fled by the time police arrived on the scene Monday evening.
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State police in Huntingdon are also investigating suspicious clown reports, according to the Associated Press.
Similar reports around the country seemingly began in South Carolina earlier this month, when police responded to several reports of people dressed as clowns trying to lure children into the woods.
After his department responded to an unfounded clown report, Hanover Twp. police Chief Albert Walker cautioned residents not to let fear push them to overreaction.
Chief Walker said his department received reports of children with masks, knives and bats wandering through Marion Terrace apartment complex Wednesday night. When officers responded, they found a group of school-age children walking in the Lee Park area of town but none of them had the items described by callers.
The children were not charged with anything, despite calls for charges on social media, Chief Walker said.
“It turned out there was no criminal behavior,” Chief Walker said. “Just because this (clown) issue is out there … we’re not going to overreact and attach criminal liability.”