‘Scary clown’ social media threat keeps JeffCo schools, PD busy

The Jefferson County School District sent a letter out to parents on Thursday, warning them of a ‘Scary clown threats’ made towards students and staff at the Jefferson County Middle School in Madras.

It’s one of many threats being made online across the nation, but many turn out to be hoaxes.

“They heard that there was a threat to students and had to come to them (school district) and had to call authorities,” parent Rebecca Alire said Friday.

Madras Police told NewsChannel 21, they discovered someone posted “JCMS get ready” on a fake Facebook account earlier this week.

The school district said these recent threats don’t appear to be credible, but they are taking them very seriously, along with police.

Alire said her daughter, who’s in first grade, came home one day and started talking about the scary clowns around town.

Madras residents said the craze has hit social media, as someone has set up a Twitter page called ‘Madras Clown.’

Police have increased their patrol presence in and around the schools. Meanwhile, the school district is asking parents to have a conversation with their kids about posting threats to social media and is advising high school students not to dress like a clown, especially anywhere near a school.

Police said they’re investigating who set up the fake Facebook account, and that person could face criminal charges.

Here is the statement from the Jefferson County School District:

“While these recent threats don’t appear to be credible, we take these matters very seriously. It’s important that we proactively take action to ensure the safety of our students and staff and keep parents and families informed. As a precautionary measure, we’ve temporarily increased police presence in and around our schools.

“We are also asking parents to have age-appropriate conversations with their children. High school students should hear that this would not be a good time to dress up like a clown and be anywhere near a school, and they should not be promoting anything that could potentially cause fear in others. This includes posting or re-posting inappropriate messages on social media.

“Elementary students should know that they are safe at school and they can talk to a teacher if they feel otherwise. We also want to encourage parents and students to contact school officials and local law enforcement with any information if they know of a threat or actual act of violence or potential violence.”