Police Look Into Clown Who Chased Family Into Elementary School

There have been a lot of clowns stalking around streets, playgrounds, and parks over the last few months. The latest area to be hit by these creepy and threatening costumed people has been the Chicago Southside and Northwest Indiana.

On Tuesday morning, a group of parents and their children were walking to school like they do every day. Suddenly a man dressed as a clown ran towards them. With the recent clown threats across the country – and because clowns are beyond creepy – the families ran into a nearby school.

This incident occurred on Chicago's Southside and police are currently investigating the incident. This isn't the first "clown threat" that has occurred in the area, however. Eureka College has since canceled night classes due to threats made on the school.

In nearby Hammond, located in Northwestern Indiana, a clown threatened students at five different schools via Facebook. The message said that students shouldn't walk to school if they attend those institutions. It threatened, "If I catch you you will die." The Hammond police department says that they are "taking the information seriously."

This is only the most recent of the clown threats that have been occurring across the country. According to NBC Chicago, there was a clown threat against two Chicago suburban middle schools, a Philadelphia school, and students at a New Jersey school, however all of these have been proven to be hoaxes created by students.

In other parts of the country, such as Ohio, schools have been closing after threats have been made or clowns have been sighted nearby schools. In Pennsylvania, a 12-year-old girls reported being chased by a clown that eventually threw a stick at her before returning to the woods. Also in Pennsylvania, a 16-year-old was stabbed to death after someone in a clown mask provoked a confrontation.

Though this threat may be hard to take seriously, given that the threats are made from clowns, those in the areas where threats have been made have been advised to take them seriously. It is also advised to not dress up as a clown for any reason – not only so you aren't mistaken for a threat, but also because clowns are scary and should always be avoided.

[H/T Fox 32, NBC Chicago]