On Tuesday, Antioch was hit with the national clown hysteria as Antioch Unified School District students and parents reported seeing clowns around multiple schools.
This forced the District to release the following auto dialer to parents by Adam Clark, Associate Superintendent of Educational Services:
Good afternoon, this is Adam Clark, Associate Superintendent of the Antioch Unified School District. As you may be aware, there is a social media hoax that is being shared throughout the country about clowns attacking schools and other threats of violence. This morning students reported a social media post that was similar to the social media hoax which targeted several of our middle and high schools. The police have been notified and are investigating. At this point the posting appears to be a copycat post. While we are hopeful that the post was not created by an AUSD student, please remind your child that making social media posts that threaten violence against a school and/or students is considered a terrorist threat, is punishable by law, and could result in expulsion from the school district. Thank you, as always, for your continued support of our students and our schools.
According to Stephanie Anello, superintendent of the AUSD, she stated a few students reported that a car pulled up alongside the school and a person in a scary clown mask got out.
“This appears to be part of a nationwide hoax,” said Anello.
Anello stated that the clowns targeted Dallas Ranch Middle School, however, images posted online showed the Antioch Middle School logo and students at both Deer Valley High School and Black Diamond Middle School reported they heard or saw threatening statements.
She also said that student safety is a top concern and the District is taking appropriate safety measures as needed.
As of 3:45 pm, the Antioch Police department did not release an official statement, but a source stated its likely a copycat hoax.
According to police, this has been going on nationwide with reports of clown sightings on campus of different schools–it first happened in August in South Carolina and has spread. Antioch Police have not said whether or not there is any threat to students or not.
Ironically, the Tennessean reports that Antioch High School (in Tennessee) had a soft lockdown last week due to the social media threat.
As of 2:30 pm Tuesday, this press release was issued by the Fairfield Police Department.
Social Media Threats Toward Local Schools-Possibly Linked to Nationwide Viral Hoaxes…
On October 3, 2016 at about 7:45 pm the Fairfield Police Department was contacted by representatives from the Fairfield-Suisun Unified School District regarding a series of posts made on social media by an anonymous person threatening harm at several Fairfield schools.
The threatening social media posts resemble similar threatening posts that have been made across the nation targeting schools. The usernames of the poster (or posters) usually reference some connection to clowns. Those posts have gone viral, and many of them appear to be copycat posts intended to disrupt schools and to scare the public.
While we have no reason to believe the recent social media posts pose a credible threat, the Fairfield Police Department will continue to work closely with administrators at Fairfield schools to continue to ensure a safe learning environment for all students and staff.
While occasionally online threats do occur, we would like to point out that posting online threats toward schools or other groups, even if made as a joke, can be criminal and be disruptive and harmful to students, parents and staff. During our investigation we discovered that a few local young people had posted online responses to the threatening posts. We encourage parents to be aware of their children’s online activities and posts, and to talk with their children to discourage them interacting with the person making the online threats. Interacting with the suspect can tend to encourage more such activity, and place the children in danger. Parents and teens can learn more about online safety by reading the attached flyers.
Anyone with information regarding the online threats is asked to contact the Fairfield Police Department by calling our tip line at 707-428-7345, Solano Crime Stoppers at 707-644-7867, or text the information to “TIP FAIRFIELDPD” to 888777.
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2 comments
You keep sying its a hoax but there have actually been several clown attacks and about 8 arrests made across several states, so what do you mean by “nationwide hoax”?
Nothing here to worry about. If you want to fear something fear the clowns running for president.
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