A clown threat closed five Ohio schools Friday after a woman told police a man dressed in a clown suit attacked her overnight.
In light of her report that the clown also made threats against students, four public schools and a Catholic school in a Cincinnati suburb closed for the day, Fox 19 Cincinnati reported.
The Reading City School District said it took action as a precaution.
“The victim stated that a male black suspect, possibly a juvenile, assaulted her and made threats against Reading Junior and Senior High Schools for Friday. Superintendent Chuck LaFata was contacted and he decided to close the school for the day,” police said in a statement, according to Fox 19.
Police said the man dressed as a clown grabbed Kim Youngblood from her porch as she was smoking a cigarette and threatened to kill her, the Cincinnati Enquirer reported, telling her "some students and teachers would wish they were never born at the junior and senior high school."
Following the attack, the suspect fled from the scene and Youngblood was taken to the hospital.
According to Youngblood, the man was wearing a striped outfit, red wig, and a white clown mask.
The incident comes just weeks after people in other parts of Ohio and additional states, including South Carolina, Maryland, and Georgia, reported frightening encounters with people dressed like clowns.
However, police caution that some of these reports could be hoaxes.