CMUPD: No validity to clown sightings north of campus
There is no clown antagonizing Central Michigan University.
That's what Lt. Cameron Wassman with the Central Michigan University Police Department emphasized Tuesday afternoon after members of the department spent the night farming "handfuls of calls" related to alleged clown sightings.
Students reported instances of seeing someone dressed as a clown carrying either a gun or a knife north of campus early Tuesday morning.
Most of these calls were "second, third, fourth and even fifth-hand sightings," Wassman said.
"(Regarding) everything that went down last night, you can call it a hoax or an urban legend, but there was nothing to suggest someone was even dressed as a clown," he said. "I saw the social media stuff going on in real time last night and that's really what got things going. (There were) hundreds and hundreds of tweets and retweets talking about killer clowns on main street or clowns on campus with a gun. None of it was true."
The Mount Pleasant Police Department reported similar instances late Monday night — many phone calls, but no clown.
For students who spent most of the night 'clown hunting' as one social media user dubbed it, Wassman has one thing to say: Don't do it.
"If this (clown) were real and someone was out with a weapon, we do not want the public to gather up and have roving bands of people with hockey sticks and pitch forks," he said. "We do not expect that kind of action from our student community. All we ask is that if you do see some sort of violent, suspicious or criminal act report it to us."
Students should contact CMUPD at (989) 774-3081 or MPPD at (989) 779-5100 the case of any suspicious activity.
