As the world continues to go mad NSW police are on alert after whispers of a mass clown gathering that is rumoured to be taking place at North Narrabeen’s Deep Creek Reserve – the site of where a gruesome killing occurred in 1994.
After beginning in the US the spooky clown craze has caught on Down Under and now a Facebook page with more than 6000 followers dedicated to alerting local communities about clown sightings has published information that it had about a “massive clown event” to take place on Friday night at Deep Creek from 10pm.
The Manly Daily reports that “More than 150 people commented on the post”, some suggesting they were “going with weapons” to track down the clowns.
Image: An image reportedly of a clown spotted on a suburban street from the Clown Sightings Australia Facebook page. PHOTO: Clown Sightings Australia / Facebook.
Deep Creek Reserve. PHOTO: Google Street View.
Deep Creek Reserve is the spot where Northern Beaches man Richard William Leonard earned his haunting moniker, ‘The bow and arrow butcher’. In 1994 Leonard murdered Stephen Dempsey with an arrow to the chest and the killing was made worse by the fact that the victim was cut up and kept in Leonard’s freezer before being wrapped in wire and dumped in Pittwater.
Leonard was sentenced to life in prison for the murder, as well as the murder of taxi driver Ezzedine Bahmad at Collaroy Plateau.
The Manly Daily reports that police have warned that anyone wishing to gather at Deep Creek needs to know that “it’s against the law to intimidate members of the public.”
“We’ll be there to greet them and if they commit an offence, they can expect legal action against them,” duty officer Insp Luke Arthurs told the newspaper.
Clowns have been arrested in Australia for intimidating behaviour and there are claims that a pregnant woman who was scared by a creepy clown went into premature labour.
An Australian social media expert has spoken to the ABC expressing concerns about the dangers of pranks escalating into something more serious.
“Something that is just an innocent prank can very easily turn and become something that’s much more sinister, and can end up with people in jail,” Murdoch University social media and public relations lecturer Catherine Archer said.
“It’s fuelled by people talking in real life about it and then talking on social media about it. The flames get fuelled and it can really spiral out of control.”
Over in the US where it all began in August, it has fast spiralled out of control with many schools across the US being forced into lockdown amid claims people are lurking in the shadows to frighten and chase people and steal from them.
