Creepy Clown Rumors Stir Caution At Brick Schools

Brick, NJ — The creepy clown reports that have been making the rounds of a number of towns in New Jersey and elsewhere have stirred up anxiety in Brick — needlessly, police say.

"There have been no reported credible threats to our area," Brick Township police said in a post on Facebook on Friday afternoon.

Reports of creepy clowns trying to entice children first began circulating in South Carolina in late August, and have spread to other states since then.

The initial reports seem to stem from an organized movie promotion and have now morphed into copycat reports throughout New Jersey, officials have said, and concerns continue to be spread through social media, via Facebook shares and Twitter reports that have been retweeted.

Some of those creepy clown reports have resulted in people being arrested and charged with making false police reports, according to a report in the New York Times.

Despite a lack of threats, Brick Township Police Chief James Riccio has ordered patrol officers to "have a higher presence at all of (Brick Township's) schools, the post said.

Creepy clown, by GlitterandFrills, via Flickr, under Creative Commons license