Teens behind separate clown threats identified as new threats surface

Two new clown threats have surfaced Tuesday, after Philadelphia Police and investigators in Washington Township tracked down a number of teenagers who are believed to be behind threats posted on social media.

Tuesday morning, new clown threats surfaced in Burlington Township and Central Bucks School Districts. Both schools released statements regarding the threats, ensuring parents they were working closely with local police.

These threats surfaced just a day after Philadelphia Police spent the weekend investigating threats against a number of Philadelphia Public and Catholic schools that was posted on social media. Police traced the posts back to a 13-year-old girl, who tells police she and a friend participated in posted the threats, but never intended to bring any harm.

At the same time, Washington Township police were tracking down two teens believed to be behind two separate threats in the area, leading to the arrest of a 13-year-old girl, and 14-year-old boy. Both are expected to face cyber harassment charges. Police have not identified the teens due to their age.

There has been a surge of so called scary clown sightings and viral social media posts in recent weeks across the country, along with crimes reportedly associated with people wearing clown costumes.

Just a few days ago Radnor Township Police say someone spread the threats on various social media sites under different hashtags.  A similar situation also occurred in Toms River New Jersey.

In both cases police cautioned that the posts were actually a hoax.

Sunday, Upper Darby Police tweeted that they would be preparing a court order for someone posting under the handle @udclown.

The warning seemed to work, and the tweets appear to have quickly disappeared.

Philadelphia Public schools are closed Monday and Tuesday due to the holiday, but the district says come Wednesday, it is prepared to handle any security concerns, and asked parents to speak with children and check social media accounts.