Two west suburban middle schools were the subjects of a “social media hoax involving a clown persona,” school officials said Monday.
School District 308 in Oswego investigated claims that posts on social media involving a clown “directed toward” Thompson Junor High School and Traughber Junior High School.
“We ask parents and students to be cautious of what they share via social media,” the district said in a news release. “We appreciate students and parents alerting the schools to any potential threats.”
An email to district officials was not immediately returned.
The Illinois "hoax" comes amid recent reports of menacing-looking clowns across the country. A clown threat was also made against Philadelphia schools over the weekend. Philadelphia police said Monday afternoon that their investigation, along with tips from the public, helped them to identify a 13-year-old girl who they say was involved in the social media posts about clown attacks at schools.
Police in northeastern Pennsylvania about two weeks ago said they were investigating in Pottsville after receiving a report that a 12-year-old girl and her friends were chased by a clown, who then threw a stick at them and yelled obscenities before running back into the woods. Also last week in Reading, Penn., police said a 16-year-old boy was stabbed to death after someone in a clown mask may have provoked a confrontation.
Reports of clown sightings have also surfaced in Lower Macungie, Easton, and New Jersey and South Carolina over the last several weeks.
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Police in Pasco County, Fla., told NBC News they were warning young people to not dress up as clowns.
"We are warning teens and young adults not to get involved in this fad, of dressing up as clowns to cause fear," Christopher Nacco, the sheriff of Pasco County, Florida, told NBC News in an email Saturday. "Because eventually someone is going to perceive their actions as a threat and take justice in their own hands."
