INQUISITR.COM / News & Politics

South Carolina Clown Sightings: A Possible Photo Turns Up, And A Clown In Ohio Reportedly Chases Teen With Knife [Video]

By Patricia Ramirez
Published on: 10:55 PST, Sep 4, 2016

The story of the South Carolina clown sightings has become a real-life nightmare that just won’t quit. For a couple of weeks now, South Carolina residents have reported sightings of clowns lurking in the woods. If that isn’t creepy enough, it has also been reported that the unidentified clowns have also been trying to lure away children with promises of candy and/or money.

The inexplicable saga of the South Carolina clown sightings started in a relatively small and unremarkable Greenville apartment complex called Fleetwood Manor. Initially, children who lived in the apartments began reporting to their parents that clowns had been spotted in the surrounding woods and that those clowns had tried to convince the kids to follow them into the trees.

At first, nobody really took the South Carolina clown sightings too seriously. Parents thought it was just kids being kids. But the clown sightings continued, reports of clowns became a common occurrence, and the apartment complex’s management company decided that the threat behind the South Carolina clown sightings was real enough to warn residents about the potential danger by way of a letter.

Despite the letter, the South Carolina clown sightings didn’t abate; if anything, they got more brazen and frequent. Adults started seeing the clowns themselves. Police were repeatedly called to investigate the matter. There were South Carolina clown sightings that involved the sound of clanging chains, doors being hit with chains, clowns playing with laser pointers, clowns living in a creepy abandoned structure in the middle of the woods, even clowns shooting off guns.

Still, despite all of the credible reports of clown sightings in South Carolina, police could find no evidence of clowns anywhere. No spent shell casings at the scene when the creepy South Carolina clowns were reported to be shooting. No signs of human activity in the abandoned shack. Just more and more reports of clowns, which police were treating as cases of suspicious activity.

“There were allegations that they had seen these clowns with guns, but our investigators responded and didn’t find any shell casings or anything like that. At this point we have not found any information or evidence to corroborate anything. I am not saying it is not true, but we haven’t found any evidence yet.”

At first, the South Carolina clown sightings were concentrated in one local area, but soon they began to spread to different locations. By September 2, the clown sightings were taking place not just near Greenville’s Fleetwood Manor but other apartment communities, neighborhoods, and cities. Multiple active investigations are ongoing at several police departments related to clown sightings in South Carolina.

Still, nothing has turned up by way of evidence. Multiple people have tried to get the elusive South Carolina clowns on camera, but with very little luck. There is only one known photograph connected to the South Carolina clown sightings, and law enforcement has not verified that it’s anything other than a hoax photo created due to the publicity and panic surrounding the South Carolina clowns.

On top of there being almost zero evidence or leads in the case of the creepy South Carolina clown sightings, nobody knows what the motivation behind the disturbing behavior might be. It’s not as though these South Carolina clowns are simply standing around being freaky, because according to reports, they are actively trying to lure children away.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9abt97QYRY

Not only that, the reports of clown encounters in South Carolina indicate that the clowns in question have gotten increasingly bold. They are showing themselves to adults without fear. One woman reported to police that she walked into her backyard one night to find a person dressed as a clown just standing there.

Interestingly, in South Carolina, it is a crime for anyone over the age of 18 to dress up like a clown and lurk around, reports Yahoo News. That means that the culprits behind the makeup involved in the South Carolina clown sightings are breaking the law. Local police have promised to prosecute anyone involved in the sightings aggressively, too. After all, a lot of time and effort have gone into investigating these reports, and all of the clowning around isn’t funny anymore. It has residents and law enforcement on edge and keeping an extra close eye on local children.

Now, in the midst of increasing clown sightings in South Carolina, it is being reported that the disturbing trend has crossed state lines. NBC News reports that a clown sighting occurred near Columbus, Ohio, last Tuesday. Unlike the South Carolina clown sightings that have remained vaguely threatening but non-violent, the incident in Ohio crossed the line into something else entirely.

According to reports, the clown in Ohio was wearing black clothes and a clown mask, and he reportedly chased a 14-year-old boy while armed with a knife as the teen walked to his bus stop. The incident was reported to local police, and like the South Carolina sightings, it is being taken very seriously.

“The victim was able to get away from him by throwing a rock at him. We don’t know whether this was a prank or not, but we are taking it seriously.”

At this point, police in Ohio have no suspects, just like the police in South Carolina. There’s no way of knowing whether the cases in Ohio and South Carolina are related, some kind of copycat situation, or something else entirely.

While police officers from a handful of jurisdictions continue to investigate the South Carolina and Ohio clown sightings, residents are being warned to be on their guard and to keep a close eye on their children.

[Image via Shutterstock]

Share this article: South Carolina Clown Sightings: A Possible Photo Turns Up, And A Clown In Ohio Reportedly Chases Teen With Knife [Video]
south carolina
More from Inquisitr