TOWAMENCIN – While some people recently have found some sort of pleasure in disrupting peoples’ safety and security by posting threats regarding clowns, the entire concept is no joke, and people should understand why.

Social media has been blowing up lately with claims of clown sightings. It seems that no matter what social media outlet one visits, a video of a clown sighting or a related issue is sure to make the headlines. Realistically, all the clown sightings are most likely just pranks, and there’s nothing to worry about, but this isn’t the first time people have been genuinely terrified of clowns.

From the early to late 70s, Coulrophobics’ fear came true when a man by the name of John Wayne Gacy was convicted of killing 33 young boys. What does this have to do with clowns? Well, as creepy and equally terrifying as this may sound, Gacy would dress up as his alter ego, Pogo the Clown, ultimately luring his young victims into his home, only to commit the unthinkable.

He was eventually caught when a 15-year-old boy named Robert Priest went missing after his mother had just seen him leave to meet Gacy for a potential job. This “killer clown” was sentenced to 12 death sentences and 21 life sentences, but after 14 years in jail, he was given lethal injection and died on May 10, 1994.

Although Gacy isn’t the topic of many discussions, his alter ego and crimes serve as a major inspiration for scary Halloweens costumes, silly “killer clown” pranks, and even the popular TV show, American Horror Story: Freak Show.

While the current clown conflict is most likely a silly prank, there’s proof that the situation seems to have the potential to escalate. The most recent instance regards an Instagram account, which has been  deleted, that suggested a threat towards North Penn High School and five other schools.

“Recently in the news there have been stories about children reporting that people dressed as clowns are trying to lure them into woods and other areas. Please know that today we were made aware of a social media post concerning schools in Southeastern Pennsylvania that may be randomly targeted on Thursday, October 6^th by people dressed as clowns. North Penn High School is one of the schools mentioned in the social media post,” stated the first paragraph of the message posted on NPSD’s website on October 4^th.

The district ensured the safety of all students and stated that security guards from NPHS and Towamencin Township police would be readily available for any students with concerns regarding the situation. Certainly the antics of few have cost taxpayers money and compromised law enforcement resources, students in North Penn should not feel vulnerable amidst these recent threats.