3 Eastlake Middle School Students Confess to Making School Threats

EASTLAKE, OH - Police have identified three suspects who are claiming responsibility for some of today's Instagram-posted threats to various east side schools. However, police are still searching for the originator of the school threats posts.

According to Eastlake Police, an anonymous tip indicated two female students at Eastlake Middle School were responsible for some of the posts. After interviews with Detective Marc Christian, the two suspects confessed. A third girl also told the detective that she participated in the threats.

All three girls are in 6th grade. Two of them are 12-years-old, the third is 11-years-old.

Eastlake Police Chief Larry Reik says the girls were running the notclowningaround12 account, which has no posts as of 3:08 p.m. Oct. 3. They may have also been running other Instagram accounts. However, the notclowningaround12 account is not believed to be associated with the killerclown_wiggles and clownbitch23 accounts that posted similar threats to other area schools. Reik says he doesn't believe the girls were responsible for those posts because there is no immediate correlation between Eastlake Middle School and, say, Garfield Heights High School. Instead, he says, one account may have inspired the other.

Reik says the girls themselves were likely inspired by recent national headlines about clown-related pranks and crimes. Police say the girls were remorseful and gave full confessions. Charges will be reviewed with the Juvenile Prosecutor and the department diversion program.

You can see Eastlake Police's Facebook post about the incident below:

Instagram user clownbitch23 posted a picture with the words "Garfield high school tm" and wrote, "Murder spree on the gang man..." at 2 a.m. this morning. Schools in Garfield Heights, Beachwood, Eastlake,Euclid, Orange, Shaker Heights and Twinsburg were placed on high alert. A second account, killerclown_wiggles, also made threats to area schools.

Garfield Heights Police Detective Gary Menary said his department is waiting on Instagram to pinpoint where the killerclown_wiggles and clownbitch23 accounts originated and to learn more details about the users. He added that he does not believe the three 6th graders are the source of the threats.

Euclid City Schools issued a statement saying they're working with police, but they do not believe the threat to be credible. The Shaker Schools also issued a statement on the incident, saying simply that the district is working with police and will keep parents informed about the investigation.

Several schools on the east side are closed for the Rosh Hashanah holiday, including Beachwood, Orange, Shaker Heights, and Twinsburg.