Sightings of creepy clowns emerging from the woods and heading into a black van are making the rounds on social media but there have been no confirmed sightings, according to the Kansas City, Kansas Police Department.
Police told 41 Action News, detectives interviewed one child who claimed to see a clown emerge from the bushes near 85th Street and Parallel Parkway. Detectives searched the area and investigated but did not find anything alarming.
"To my knowledge nothing has happened other than that sighting,” said officer Tom Tomasic, with the Kansas City, Kansas Police Department. "It’s probably a hoax just like the rest of them going around the country.”
Police departments across the country have received multiple complaints of people dressed in clown costumes scaring others in public.
A Cincinnati-area school saw attendance cut in half Tuesday because students were afraid of a clown threat. The FBI is now helping investigate.
“We have to be able to discern if there’s an issue with a clown or a clown doing normal, business, day-to-day going to parties and stuff. We need to be able to filter out exactly what’s happening and not add the fuel to the fire,” said Tomasic.
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Ariel Rothfield can be reached at Ariel.Rothfield@KSHB.com.
