AKRON, Ohio _ Panic on social media over the threat of a clown terrorizing Firestone High School in Akron resulted in a short police investigation Thursday.
Facebook users posted that the clown _ which Akron Police Lt. Rick Edwards said didn't exist _ was going to target black students with a gun.
"There was absolutely no credible threat," Edwards said.
The incident follows a clown sighting on the University of Akron campus Wednesday night, when a caller said a costumed man was walking around the South Hall dormitory holding a mallet, which turned out to be made of foam.
Police in that case were able to identify the suspect. A 19-year-old student from Poland, Ohio, was investigated for inducing panic but not charged.
The scares are the latest in a series of incidents regarding the "clowning" trend sweeping the nation. People across the country have been reporting sightings of menacing "killer clowns" attempting to scare them in public places like streets and the edges of woods. In most cases, police haven't found the costumed perpetrators.
Police urged the public not to panic over the trend.
"In our jurisdiction, nobody's been approached or followed or attacked or anything like that," Edwards said. "It could just be the season or a hoax or some people following this social media trend, but it's unknown at this time why they're doing it."
The national trend started in Wisconsin on Aug. 1 with photos appearing on social media depicting a creepy clown holding four black balloons. A week later, movie director Adam Krause revealed he was the man behind the mask _ and it was all a marketing stunt for "Gags," an independent film he planned to release near Halloween.
But that didn't stop reports from surfacing by the end of August in other parts of the country. Pictures began appearing, some arrests were made and all the while, the scares continued.
Akron-area reports _ primarily from teenagers on Facebook and Twitter _ claimed menacing clowns brandishing knives were breaking into homes.
Several local police departments on Thursday confirmed they've received no calls related to costumed violence.
But there have been calls reporting suspicious clowns.
A woman called Akron police last Friday to report two men in sinister costumes swung a baseball bat at her car near Inman and Johnston streets. They didn't strike her car, but they did scare her. By the time police arrived, no one was there.
Three more reports came on Tuesday. In all three cases, no weapons were reported. The clowns merely made callers feel uneasy. When police went to investigate, no clowns were spotted at any of the locations.
Thursday morning, elementary school students in Akron told their principal they saw a clown approach a vacant house on their walk to school. Police went to the house but discovered it was boarded up and no one could enter. They did not find a clown.
Later in the day, the killer clown rumor circulated at Firestone High School.
Many of the photos circulating with local social media reports are identical to pictures claimed to have been captured in other cities.
