Last week, talk of clown
sightings and threats were deemed
to be only rumors by police, as the
New Trier Township fell victim to the
clown hysteria that has taken over the
nation in the past month.
According to some students, on
Thursday Oct 6, New Trier received
threats overs social media. These
threats stated that individuals wearing
scary clown masks would be coming
to the school that Friday.
Police Liaison, Josue Perez, said
the rumored threats were completely
inaccurate and there was no evidence
of a threat made to New Trier.
However, the hysteria and rumors
did lead to an extra police presence.
“We’ve had calls,” Perez said.
“We’ve even had parents come to the
department to express their concerns,
but nobody has been able to provide
any solid evidence of anything going
on. It’s all word of mouth from
one person to the next. It has led to
some extra patrols in certain areas,
specifically in and around the school
last week.”
Officer Perez added that extra
officers were seen the week of Oct
7, when the clown hysteria was at its
highest.
“We had some extra officers
coming through the building just to
keep an eye on things, but it’s truly
all precautionary.”
The clown hysteria infected
students as videos circulated the
student body.
Junior Dory Mydlach, explained
how she first heard about the rumors
of clowns in the area and how the
risk of them being close to home
frightened her.
“I first heard it on the news. The
reporters said that there were people
getting scared because these clowns
are going around and stabbing people.
I didn’t really get freaked out because
it was in other places, but then my
friends sent a picture of a message on
Facebook that said they were coming
to Illinois and all the schools. Then I
started to freak out,” Mydlach said.
Junior Julia Yang mirrored
Mydlach’s view, “There was a rumor
that a clown was going to come to my
hometown [Wilmette]. I really was
scared for a second but then I thought
it’s probably just a rumor.”
The paranoia of a clown
haunting the streets of the North
Shore reached a pinnacle when a
video surfaced depicting a car driving
down a wooded road and seeing
a clown. Rumors circled that the
wooded road was Forest Way Drive
in Winnetka and Glencoe, but local
police say that these rumors were
untrue.

Officer Perez said there has been
no proven incidents involving clowns
in the North Shore. Instead, there is
just a lot of speculation.
“There are lots of photos
going around that are not from
here. Specifically, there was a video
circulating of a clown being in the
wood near Forest Way Drive, that
was actually a photo from some kids
in New York,” Officer Perez said.
He stressed that so far there are
no proven sighting of clowns in the
North Shore adding, “There is nothing
that we have seen in Winnetka to be
bona fide.”
False rumors have been
circulating throughout the school.
Officer Perez suggested fact checking
as a way to stop rumors and hysteria
from spreading.
“When you hear someone tell
a story, go out and do your own
research. A simple google search
would have shown the lies, the
inaccuracies, and the exaggerations.
The best thing you can do, rather than
immediately react and start spreading
the rumor, is go ahead and do your
own research. Do some fact checking,
and then if you find something that is
concrete go ahead and report it to the
police so we can further investigate.”
The recent clown scare is not the
first time American neighborhoods
have been terrorized by people in
creepy masks.
Clown sightings are nothing
new, with even The New York Times
reporting on a clown sighting in a
Chicago cemetery last year. This
recent clown hysteria that has taken
over the country is heightened by
the use of technology, according to
Officer Perez.
“Misinformation can travel at
a much faster rate,” Officer Perez
said. “I describe it as a sort of digital
terrorism, where it preys on people’s
fears.”
Yang also noted how social
media adds to the hysteria
surrounding the clowns. “Social
media dramatized the situation a
lot. If it weren’t for people starting
rumors on social media we probably
wouldn’t of cared as much or even
know about the clown situation at
all.”
For Officer Perez and other law
enforcement officers, individuals
terrorizing and taunting the public is
nothing out of the ordinary.
This year, though, the hysteria
surrounding these stalkers has been
heightened by the use of creepy
clown masks.
“Clowns are something that
have been around for a long time, and
right now it’s being used as a terror
prop to freak people out,” Officer
Perez said. “There have been very
few incidents where it was serious.
These incidents are not usually an
organized deal but one-offs. It’s
nothing out of the ordinary from
what happens all year round, it just so
happens that right now clown masks
are being used.”