A second “clown” has been taken off the streets, this time in Griffith.
Commander Keith Martin, Griffith Police spokesman, said a 15-year-old Griffith High School student is in custody for making threats over social media posing as a clown. A second Griffith High School student, also 15, was picked up for questioning but was released, he said in a release Thursday.
Griffith detectives, along with Griffith Public School Resource Officer Pete Ghrist, used website and forensic data to locate the site the students used to make threats toward the high school and several students, Martin said in the release. The boy who was arrested admitted he made threats over the social media page but assured police he was joking and never intended to harm anyone.
Charges are pending and will be presented to the Lake County Juvenile Prosecutor’s Office, Martin said.
“Any threats to our citizens are taken very seriously, whether in person or by any other means,” Martin said in the release. “The only relevance of any connection to the ‘clown phenomenon’ is the name of the site itself, which is being withheld until the completion of the investigation.”
Martin reiterated that officers have no credible information as to any concerns over anyone dressed as clowns.
A 16-year-old Hammond High School student was arrested Wednesday morning for intimidation in connection with clown threats over social media against several School City of Hammond schools.
Michelle L. Quinn is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.