Teenagers arrested for scaring people with clown masks in latest clown-related crime

First they just stood there, hoping to creep people out as a joke. Then at least one tried to lure kids into the woods. Then came bomb threats to a school. Then an alleged shooting.

The shooting was apparently made up by the victim, but the other incidents are very real, and it has law enforcement scratching their heads. Why have there been so many clown-related crimes and clown sightings lately?

One theory is it started as a result of a movie called “31,” which was released Friday. Law enforcement agencies said they can’t confirm if the movie is the true motivation for the clown scares, but it seems to be the only explanation circulating right now.

According to entertainment website IMDb, the summary of the movie is, “Five carnival workers are kidnapped and held hostage in an abandoned, Hell-like compound where they are forced to participate in a violent game, the goal of which is to survive twelve hours against a gang of sadistic clowns.”

Apparently a preview of the film screened on Sept. 1 at a theater in Greenville, South Carolina, which is where many clown sightings and incidents have occurred and possibly originated.

The incident that first stirred national headlines was an apartment complex in Greenville sending a note to its residents that a clown had been trying to lure children into the woods. The complex said the police department had been notified, but the Greenville Police Department said in a release about clown sightings that “there has been no indication of any attempt to contact or lure children into the woods.”

However, police did list four creepy clown sightings, including two standing near a playground, outside apartments and near a laundromat. Each one silently stared at people but made no move to follow or harm them, and each had left the area before police arrived.

A Greenville City ordinance does prohibit harassing others, which would include these incidents, police said.

Most clown incidents have stayed in the southeastern region of the U.S., but they have expanded beyond South Carolina. There have been several threats to schools that come from clown Facebook pages, including to schools in North Carolina, Alabama and Georgia.

A Facebook page called “Flomo Klown” that has since been shut down caused two southern Alabama schools to go on lockdown Thursday. The Facebook page had threatening messages, including a gun emoji with the message, “it’s going down tonight.” Law enforcement searched the area during the lockdown and found nothing suspicious.

A 24-year-old Georgia man who was found shot early Thursday originally told investigators he was jumped by people dressed as clowns, who shot him in the leg. He admitted later that day that he made the part about the clowns up and was actually shot by someone after he told them he didn’t have any drugs.

Two teenagers arrested in Georgia on Friday didn’t really provide additional information to the bizarre crime spree. They were trying to scare people with clown masks outside of a Walmart, and when they were caught by police one eventually admitted to wearing the clown mask and said they “did it to scare people and have fun.”

This story was originally published September 16, 2016 at 1:01 PM with the headline "Teenagers arrested for scaring people with clown masks in latest clown-related crime."