Creepy clown sightings have been plaguing the United States for months, spreading from their origin in South Carolina to over 30 states. Now, a Texas college student is claiming to have been the victim of a failed clown attack. The disturbing Texas clown attack reportedly took place late Monday evening as the unidentified female victim was walking across the Texas State University Campus.
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As KVUE reports, the clown attack allegedly happened near a student housing facility, the Bobcat Village Apartments at about 7:00 p.m. That’s when the Texas clown attack victim says that a tall, athletic individual in a clown costume attacked and tried to grab her. She was able to narrowly escape the attacking clown but was unable to identify who was behind the clown costume.
She said that she was unsure what direction her assailant went following the failed attack, but she was able to give law enforcement a decent description of the clown.
According to the victim of the Texas clown attack, she was assailed by a likely male, roughly 6-foot-2 inches tall. He was disguised in full clown regalia, including a clown suit and a green wig. Reportedly, he wasn’t wearing a mask, but his face was painted as a clown with black and white eyes.
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@KVUE this clown epidemic is a plot by the @NRA to increase discussion on personal protection before election day
— ?att (@thisisbucked) October 5, 2016
Perhaps a bit ironically, like the majority of the early clown sightings , this Texas clown attack took place outside an apartment complex. The very first clown sightings, the ones that sparked the so-called “summer of the clowns,” were reported at the Fleetwood Manor apartment complex in South Carolina. The initial sightings were thought to be nothing more than the fanciful tales of small children at first, however the clowns became so brazen and their behavior so disturbing (they were reportedly attempting to lure small children into the surrounding forest), that the apartment complex management sent out a letter warning residents to keep a closer eye on their little ones.
Fam I don’t know about y’all but if I see a clown in the woods and he says “I got cotton candy”, can’t pass that up. pic.twitter.com/wAnw0ZsIW5
— ? (@Pokefax) August 30, 2016
Since the first seemingly isolated South Carolina clown sightings, reports of lurking, vaguely threatening, and even violent and weapon-wielding clowns spread across the country. Clown sightings have now been reported from coast to coast and virtually everywhere in between. Many of the clown sightings have been determined to be nothing more than elaborate hoaxes, but their pervasive nature has kept police departments across the country busy for weeks.
They have also kept citizens fearful for themselves and their children, especially in instances that the clown sightings have been reported to escalate to full-scale clown attacks, such as Monday’s incident in Texas.
Meanwhile in San Marcos … Clown attack at Texas State (H/T @ColtonMWilliams ) pic.twitter.com/su1ozrxHYd
— ???? ?????? (@TommySledge) October 5, 2016
Things have gotten so bad that several states have warned their residents against “hunting” for clowns, especially as Halloween looms ever closer and sales of creepy clown costumes reportedly skyrocket across the country and online.
Many concerned U.S. citizens have taken to social media to share their fear of the creepy clowns that have been sighted across the nation, and many of those social media users have threatened to use deadly force against any lurking clown they happen to see. On sight.
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The way law enforcement chooses to handle the creepy clown sightings has varied widely from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, with some police departments reminding citizens that it’s not illegal to simply dress as a clown and others reminding citizens that it is illegal to wear a clown mask in public.
Despite the police crackdown and heightened public anxiety, the creepy clown sightings have only increased and even escalated, as evidenced by Monday’s clown attack in Texas.
Officials in Texas are taking reports of clown sightings very seriously and were already doing so before the unidentified Texas State University student reportedly became the victim of a clown attack.
At the end of September, law enforcement began to closely monitor the “clown situation” in the state after multiple schools were vaguely threatened with clown-related violence , reports KHOU 11. Prior to Monday’s Texas clown attack, it appeared that all reported sightings and threats in the state were nothing more than hoaxes. Indeed, there is much speculation that all of the clown sightings and attacks that followed the South Carolina “original” have been unrelated copycat “crimes.”
As San Angelo Live reports, Texas police have spoken out about the creepy clown situation in the state, and they have reminded their citizenry that there is nothing inherently illegal about dressing as a clown. There is , however, something illegal about getting violent with someone in a clown costume for no other reason aside from their attire.
“First, dressing up as a clown, or anything else, is not in and of itself against the law. Hopefully, we never get to the point as a society, or we would be forced to prohibit Halloween.”
Lay down your arms, Plano, Texas—that evil clown is miles away #DallasStars https://t.co/n3rNHaMES5 pic.twitter.com/UAtZ5eYyTf
— Stars Report (@stars_fanly) October 1, 2016
Local law enforcement agencies in Texas have promised to aggressively investigate reported clown sightings, but they added that they won’t be prosecuting people simply for dressing as clowns. If a creepy clown is violating a state or local law, however, it could be a different story.
“With that said, the San Angelo Police Department will enforce the laws of the State and City Ordinances, regardless of what the offender is wearing at the time those laws or ordinances are broken. While dressing up may not be against the law, doing so in public, along with creating unnecessary alarm and or panic, can be deemed as disorderly conduct.”
In the case of Monday’s Texas clown attack, it is likely that the clown-garbed grabber will face an array of potentially serious charges; that is if he is ever identified.
[Featured Image by Sergey Shubin /Shutterstock]