A report of three people in clown masks taunting children at an elementary school in north suburban Waukegan Tueday afternoon turned out to be fake, police said.
Students initially told staff they saw the clowns about 1:50 p.m. outside Greenwood Elementary School at 1919 North Ave, according to Waukegan police. One carrying a knife, another a briefcase and the third had a gun in his pocket, the students had claimed.
“Those reports have now been deemed false,” Waukegan police said Wednesday evening. Surveillance footage showed no clowns, and the students later admitted to making up the story, police said.
The report was one in a series of clown-themed threats and sightings that have spread across the Chicago area over the last week.
