Local police warn scary clown threats on social media are a hoax

"Some of them thought they were joking but like a lot were like texting their parents," said 17-year-old Mary Naylor about a scary clown threat that spread on social media involving schools in the Radnor Township District. She's a junior at Agnes Irwin.

"The tweet was like #clowningaround and they were talking about how they were going to like stab kids and go to different schools," she recalled.

Radnor Township Police say someone spread the threats on various social media sites under different hashtags. Police showed us one that threatened to either kidnap students or kill teachers going to their cars. Police posted on their website and crime alert page that the posts are actually a hoax.

"What I want to stress is everything has been unfounded in this area. It's someone playing an evil trick on people and actually getting people legitimately upset," said Lt. Chris Flanagan.

Melanie Woon has a 15-year-old daughter in the Radnor Township School District. She says her daughter's school is safe and she's not concerned.

"I think it's sad. I think it's unfortunate and there are people out there looking to grab a spotlight any way they can so as long as they aren't following through," she said.

But parents of children in other school districts who also heard about the scary clown threats are concerned. It's forced officials in Toms River and Boyertown to issue warnings too.

"I think it's very dangerous for the children," said one parent. Jeanie Gamble said, "I wouldn't want a kid to be scared. It's horrible that anybody would do that."