On Saturday, October 1, threats targeting several Prince George’s County schools began circulating on social media, threatening mass violence and targeting middle and high schools such as Kenmoor Middle School, Northwestern High School, and Parkdale High School. The threats originated on social media accounts claiming to belong to clowns, such as one Instagram account with the username “mikeytheclown.”

These “clown threats” warned students and teachers to “be ready,” capitalizing on fear towards clowns that has been growing since unconfirmed stories of clowns luring children into the woods began spreading across the nation this summer. The threats said that the clowns would be coming to local schools and would be shooting both students and teachers, and while they mentioned several schools by name, they also implied that others would be targeted. Between the weekend and October 3, bomb threats were also made, targeting Bladensburg and Northwestern High Schools. On Wednesday, October 5, Northwestern went on lockdown due to one of the clown threats.

The official PGCPS Twitter account tweeted Sunday afternoon that the school system was aware of the threats and was working with the county’s police department to address them. They also stated that extra security resources would be dispatched to protect schools against the threats.

While ERHS was not specifically mentioned as a target, many students and their parents were still unnerved by the circulating posts, and a number of students stayed home from school that Monday. All temp classes were held inside so as to protect students from any threats that may have been outside, and people were not allowed to enter the building through any entrance but the front doors. After-school activities were also canceled as a precautionary measure.

Senior Ben Hung, who attended school that Monday, said that part of him had wanted the school system to cancel school altogether, for the sake of having a day off, but “I understand that that’s not the right approach.” He added that, considering school wasn’t canceled, “I think they handled it pretty well.”

Junior Elizabeth Gardner, who also attended school, said, “I thought it was probably a hoax,” but that she “was glad that the temp classes were in the auditorium.” She also said she thought that the school and the school system handled the situation appropriately, saying, “We would’ve missed a day of school for nothing.”

Later that Monday, a student at Parkdale High School was arrested in connection with one of the threats, and it was discovered that he had made a clown-themed Twitter account in class from which the threats were posted. He now faces several charges, including making a threat of mass violence, a charge also faced by an eighth grader at Kenmoor Middle School, who was arrested Tuesday. Another student has been identified as the source of the false bomb threat targeting Bladensburg, and students have also been arrested in connection to similar threats that were made targeting schools in Montgomery County and Washington County.

“I want to commend our students on the way they conducted themselves,” said Principal McNeill when asked about the situation, adding that students should “stay above this nonsense.” He explained that he found out about the threats when a student emailed him one of the posts, which he then passed on to ERHS security, the county, and the principals of the threatened schools. “This was a very serious matter,” he said. “They need to report it to an adult.”