Clowns terrorize children as they make their way to school

MACON, Ga. (WGXA) - Three clowns terrorized children in a neighborhood as they walked their sister to school Tuesday morning.

Aisha Thompson said three of her children returned home in a panic after the clowns appeared from the woods near their house on Elkan Avenue in Macon.

"They're still shaken up. My oldest daughter, she's the big sister of all four of them, she's shaking in her jacket. When I was hugging her she was shaking and she's in the mentor's program, on the softball team, and JLC. She doesn't want to go to school and my children love school," said Thompson.

Thompson's youngest son, Marlon Patterson, said the clowns were wearing face paint and were shining lasers as they ran out of the woods and up and down the street.

"I was very scared, I started crying, I didn't know how we were gonna get home so we just tried to go to everybody we could to get a ride and one lady gave us one," said Patterson.

Thompson said her children have also received friend requests on Facebook with clowns as their profile pictures.

"I don't know if it's something they're doing just to scare them or if it's something serious, but I would rather be safe than sorry," said Thompson.

According to the Bibb County Sheriff's Office, deputies responded to Elkan Avenue at around 8:00 Tuesday morning in reference to the incident. Witnesses reported that the clowns were carrying fake knives and flashlights and that they appeared to be older kids or adults.

It was reported that the clowns came from bushes and abandoned houses near Elkan Avenue and Dapleton Drive.

Some of the kids who reported the clown sighting to authorities also reported that they received Facebook messages from people dressed as clowns saying "I will find you."

The Bibb County Sheriff's Office said this is the first report of clown sightings in the area, though Tuesday morning's witnesses told deputies that the sightings had been going on for the past few days in the "bottom side" of Bloomfield.

The Sheriff's Office promised that deputies will be patrolling the area in the morning hours while kids are waiting for school buses.

Authorities are still investigating the incident.

Bruce Conn, a psychologist from Coliseum Health, shared what impacts these clowns can have on communities.

Reports around the country claim a number of clown sightings, with police investigating some of them attempting to lure children into the woods.