POTTSVILLE — Authorities in Schuykill County say people dressed up as clowns are harassing children.
The incident happened in Pottsville Monday night, according to the police chief, and other children have claimed to see them as well.
“The little boy ran up that way, screaming there were clowns, eating something in the woods,” 12-year-old Brianne Hawke told WNEP about the very bizarre encounter she and her friends had Monday night.
They kids were at a local playground when they say a clown began harassing them.
“A clown started chasing us up here and turned around and went back to the woods. So we thought it was gone, turned around, broke a stick and threw it at us and started calling us, cursing at us, it was scary,” said Brianne. “Yes, a clown did this.”
The Pottsville police chief says that two men reportedly dressed as clowns were seen in the Greenwood Hill neighborhood around 7 p.m., yelling at children before they took off in a vehicle.
However, the chief says no violence or threats were mentioned in that report.
Rumors of the clown sightings have spread like wildfire.
“I heard that they’re going around town, scaring kids,” said 15-year-old Kevin Devine. “I heard they scared kids from their bus stop.”
The Frackville Police Department posted pictures of clowns on its website, warning residents that four subjects have been seen wandering in the borough, dressed as clowns, but the post has since been taken down.
Clown sightings have been reported in several other states recently as well including Georgia, and both North and South Carolina.
