Deputy watches bus stop after report of clowns chasing children

A mother called 911 Tuesday after her children were reportedly chased away from a south Macon bus stop by people dressed up like clowns, Bibb County sheriff’s Cpl. Linda Howard said.

The children were waiting on a school bus in the 4700 block of Elkan Avenue shortly before 8 a.m. when they ran back home and told their mother that they’d been chased by clowns wielding fake knives and flashlights, Howard said. The kids said the clowns came from abandoned houses and bushes near Elkan Avenue and Dapleton Drive, according to a Tuesday evening news release from the Sheriff’s Office.

It was unclear how many children were involved or how many clowns were reportedly seen.

The kids “said it looked like it may have been like older kids or adults,” Howard said, adding that the children didn’t give a description of what they saw. “All they said was clowns.”

Some of the kids told police they received friend requests on Facebook from people dressed as clowns. Some received messages saying “I will find you,” the release said.

Deputies searched the area but didn’t find anyone dressed like a clown. Howard said the area will be patrolled in the morning and evening hours.

Wednesday morning, a Bibb County sheriff’s deputy watched the bus stop as children gathered at the corner.

A child, who said he was chased Tuesday, was accompanied by adults Wednesday morning as he headed to the bus stop with two older students.

Multiple reports of recent clown sightings have prompted law enforcement authorities in North Carolina and South Carolina to step up patrol in certain areas. However, no one was found dressed in a clown costume in any of those cases, according to the New York Times.

It’s entirely possible the clown sightings are manifestations of a public hysteria, created from people spreading fear and feeding off of each other’s thoughts and feelings, a psychologist recently told The Times.

“Sometimes this can create a ‘mass hysteria’ as perceived problems, such as presumed rashes, spread throughout a population,” the psychologist said.

This story was originally published September 13, 2016 at 3:40 PM with the headline "Deputy watches bus stop after report of clowns chasing children."