School officials address ‘creepy clown’ issue

For the first time ever, the topic of creepy clowns was brought up during a White House briefing Wednesday.

Dozens of reports of menacing clowns have surfaced across the country, including the Borderland, largely on social media. And authorities are being forced to take them seriously as a potential threat to public safety, particularly at schools, where principals have conducted lockdowns and canceled classes.

In Connecticut, police are investigating threats promising clowns will come to school and attack students. In Texas, someone with a scary clown face is posting a list of schools he planned to visit by Halloween.

So far, 22 states reporting threats of clown violence. And that’s not all.

In Oregon, a woman claims a man in a clown mask tried to attack her. And in Michigan, a boy claims a person dressed as a clown cut him with a knife.

In September, people in South Carolina reported someone in a clown costume tried to lure children into the woods. There have possibly been up to a dozen arrests based on clown sightings.

There have also been creepy clown sightings here in both El Paso and Las Cruces over the past couple of days. And one school district in El Paso went as far as holding a news conference Wednesday to discuss the situation.

While clowns are usually funny, school officials said this is no laughing matter. The Socorro Independent School District Police Department wants everyone to know, although they have yet to spot any clowns, it’s not exactly just “clowning around” if someone is scared to the point where the police have to be called.

ABC-7 found at least a couple of clown pictures from Facebook that were said to be taken in El Paso this week. One clown was pictured near the trolley tracks in Downtown El Paso, and another appears to be carrying a baseball bat with the caption: “First one spotted in El Paso Downtown.”

The authenticity of the images hasn’t been verified.

SISD Police Lt. Joe Castorena held a news conference outside district headquarters to address the clown issue. 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. There were no threats, no violence, and as the evening went on, no clowns.

But Castorena cautioned people against dressing up as clowns or pulling any clown pranks because it could lead to someone getting hurt.

“It is something to consider with the recent passing of the open carry laws, and you have people that tend to want to exercise that right,” Castorena said. “If they’re approached by these individuals in these costumes you don’t know what their reaction is going to be.”

Reports out of Las Cruces on Wednesday indicated that parents took 26 children home from Lynn Middle School after a social media threat police called clown-related because the accused threat-maker uses a name that references a clown.

Las Cruces police are investigating and cautioned, anyone caught making a threat against a school could be charged with a felony count of committing a terroristic act.