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First there were a Stalking Clown seen in Green Bay, Wisconsin, at the beginning of August 2016.
Then late in August, into the first half of September 2016, Phantom Clowns made appearances in Greenville, South Carolina; Green Havel, Alamance County, North Carolina; Greensboro, North Carolina; and now Greensboro, Alabama.
"Green" is, in addition to a Masonic one (Macon, Fayettevile, LaGrange), certainly a Name Game thread throughout. As seen below, the mapping as been incomplete and inconsistent.
From Travis Vaughn, Editor:
Amid social media rumors of “creepy clowns” lurking around Tuscaloosa and Hale counties (Alabama), Greensboro Police Chief Mike Hamilton said Thursday morning, Sept. 15, that a woman called that morning to report “someone dressed in a clown suit” in a mobile home park on North Street in Greensboro. The woman told police she was walking with her children before school when she saw the person. No threatening behavior was reported, according to Hamilton.
So far, no reports have been made with Moundville Police, and we are awaiting responses from both the City of Tuscaloosa Police Department and the Tuscaloosa County Sheriff's Office.
Clown sightings have been reported throughout the Southeast over the last few weeks, with the initial reports coming from the Carolinas. Facebook posts about the sightings in west Alabama increased Wednesday, Sept. 14. Some reported clowns simply making appearances in public, but others claimed clowns were trying to lure kids into vans.
Acting Chief Keith Burch with the Moundville Police Department said citizens should, as always, take responsibility for the safety of themselves and their families and report any suspicious activity to the police. He also urged citizens to use common sense and consider that some of the sightings may simply be harmless pranksters.
We will follow this story and will update as circumstances warrant. We will have a full update in the Sept. 21 edition of the Moundville Times.
Furthermore, there was a clown-related clown school closure:
FLOMATON, AL (WALA) -Flomaton schools were put on lockdown for more than an hour Thursday morning, September 15, 2016 after school officials said a threat was made against a student on social media. The source of the threat came from a Facebook page featuring clowns. That had the whole community talking and the FBI involved.
“You don’t take it lightly. That’s my gut feeling. You know, you just have to be cautious these days,” said the grandmother of one student.
“Yeah, I’m worried. I’ve never heard of such a thing as that,” said another.
That summed up how parents and grandparents were reacting Thursday morning after the two schools in Escambia County went on lockdown and others had stepped up police patrols.
School officials said a student received a serious threat through the Facebook page, Flomo Klown. That, coupled with supposed clown sightings and pictures circulating in the county over the last couple of days heightened those concerns.
Some of the early mapping:
UK's The Sun published a map showing other sites for clown sightings.
Some of the humor is certainly less than funny to those reporting the clowns.