Plenty of rumors have been circulating about this October’s national clown freak out. From some schools across the country closing or being on lockdown, to a clown reportedly cutting off a cat’s leg, here’s the truth:

Tomball has been affected because of peoples’ hysteria, but not directly by clowns.

“We haven’t had calls about anybody dressed up as a clown in the city at all, including surrounding areas,” Tomball  Police Officer Chris Burns said.

In fact, despite common belief, there have been no cases in the United States where clowns have actually hurt people in the past month.

If any clown is spotted, people naturally go hysteric, but clowns are likely not dangerous.

“The most dangerous case was one in Ohio where a clown threatened to go to a school and shoot teachers, but that person has been arrested since,” Burns said.

According to Burns, there are currently two main clowns scaring people on social media – Smiley and Bundy. However, they’ve stated that they do not intend to conduct violent attacks. Clowns have been reported to appear in locations across the country, but they are rarely armed. Typically they are teens trying to scare people.

Although some parents have been concerned by rumors of a clown being spotted in Tomball, no lockdown has occurred on any TISD campus and no clowns have been seen in Tomball.

However, an individual dressed as a clown was recently shot in Texas. Anyone who plans to dress as a clown for Halloween should either change plans or take precautions.

“I would suggest going with a group so people know you’re not actually dangerous,” Burns suggested.

The reasons for this year’s intense scare are pretty clear: recent clown appearances in popular culture have influenced peoples’ fears.

“I think they became popular because Hollywood is redoing the It movie and American Horror Story featured a clown too,” Burns said.

So, despite clowns being especially creepy lately, there is nothing to be afraid of.

To read about national reaction to the clown scare epidemic, check out Cougar Claw Special Report: Clown Lives Matter

To find out more about why we are afraid of clowns, check out Cougar Claw Special Report: Why are we afraid of clowns?