JACKSON, Miss. – Nationwide stories are popping up everywhere of clown terrorizing people and Mississippi has recently gotten its first dose.
In Lucedale a woman told police that as she prepared to head home on Thursday night a person dressed as a clown approached her and her daughter. The clown knocked on her window and then ran into the woods.
Police Captian Joe Apker with the Lucedale Police Department told local media, “If it’s somebody playing a prank, we need to know that. If it’s someone that’s trying to cause somebody harm, we want to get out and identify this person, because you know, we don’t want any of our citizens or residents to be scared to drive home at night.”
In the Clara community of Wayne County a sighting was reported on Tuesday night which lead to a slap on the wrist for a firefighter in the area.
The firefighter had obtained the clown costume from a Halloween carnival and took a photo infront of a convenient store, during daylight hours. Around 8:00 p.m. officials began receiving phone calls of the sighting and police went after the suspect.
Chief Deputy Mike Mozingo said the whole situation really got blown out of proportion.
“This kid dressed up like a clown and took a picture and then walked back to fire station. We were asked what can we do about locking him up, but there isn’t anything illegal about dressing up like a clown,” said Chief Deputy Mozingo.
Mozingo said contacted the young man to encourage him not to dress up like a clown because it was upsetting the community, in light of the national coverage on individuals dressing up like clowns and terrorizing people.
Sheriff Jody Ashley said the volunteer firefighter will not be prosecuted. Dunlap said this is a case of poor judgement but there are no officials laws against it.
The public has responded to the news:
