The great Greeley clown panic of 2016 is hopefully coming to an end.
It all started with a Facebook post on Monday night that threatened a Halloween shooting at Northridge High School, spinning off a similar threat to Island Grove Regional Park.
The involvement of photos and videos of a clown tapped into a national phenomenon, in which people dress like clowns and do creepy things. (See my theory of the case here.)
Police have traced the Northridge threat to a 15-year-old girl, according to the Greeley Tribune.
"The student indicated the post was written to get attention. The student is facing criminal charges and was removed from school," the schools superintendent wrote on the Greeley-Evans School District website.
The panic may have influenced at least one young boy to do something in real life: An 11-year-old brought a CO2-powered BB gun and a backpack with an image of a clown to a local middle school this week, the Tribune reported. The Island Grove threat remains unresolved.
Both students face criminal charges, according to the superintendent of the Greeley-Evans School District.
School attendance "plummeted" on Tuesday on fear of the threats, but it's back to normal now, the Tribune reported. Meanwhile, an unbelievable amount of people continue to talk about clowns on Facebook.
"Please know there has been no confirmation of any clowns perpetrating crimes or mischief in District 6 schools or in Greeley or Evans. If you hear of this kind of activity, I urge you to check with the police to confirm. What you see on social media or hear through social contacts may be inaccurate," wrote schools superintendent Deirdre Pilch.