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More clown sightings reported in Salisbury

Liz Holland
erholland@gannett.com
Scary clown hoaxes have been popping up nationwide.

Sandy “Sunshine” Johnson has just one thing to say to the people lurking in the shrubbery dressed as creepy clowns: Grow up.

“Someone is just trying to scare people,” said Johnson who has worked as a professional clown in the Salisbury area for the past 37 years. “Do I think anyone’s in danger? No.”

Johnson thinks recent clown sightings in Salisbury over the past few days are probably pranks by college or high school students. Clown costumes are “cheap and easy to come by,” especially close to Halloween, but that doesn’t make someone a real clown.

“If I put on a doctor’s coat, would you like a surgery this afternoon?” she said.

A professional clown wouldn’t try to scare anyone, and Johnson said her character Sunshine always strives to set good examples for children.

Sandy "Sunshine" Johnson is an Eastern Shore institution, complete with a red glitter heart on the tip of her nose. She has been performing for 37 years and heads Sunshine Entertainment Co., performing at parties, festivals, trade shows and corporate events, offering comedy magic, airbrush face painting, balloon creations, story telling and puppets.

Three people dressed as clowns were first reported early Sunday morning on Fairground Drive, according to the Salisbury Police Department. There was another sighting Tuesday night on East Chestnut Street and an unconfirmed report on Parsons Road.

READ MORE: Salisbury police report clown sightings

Salisbury is just the latest town in at least 10 states to report clown sightings. Someone even reported seeing a car full of clowns, possibly armed, driving through a Pennsylvania college campus.

In western Maryland, members of a Shriners clown group said they are backing out of the Oct. 29 Alsatia Mummers' Parade in Hagerstown amid a rash of creepy clown reports in several states.

The unit has about 15 active members and some feel uncomfortable about participating. Members said they're not out to scare people — they just want to make children smile and raise money for Shriners hospitals.

Most of the recent incidents are believed to be hoaxes, but they have increased the public’s anxieties over clowns. Horror movies in particular have led to a general dislike and fear of clowns, said Dawn Harner of Student Counseling Services at Salisbury University.

Clown costumes also disguise a person’s true appearance which can heighten anxiety, Harner said.

“It allows people to do things they wouldn’t normally do,” she said.

READ MORE: Serious or just a sick joke? What we know about creepy clown reports

Reports of people dressed as clowns were first reported to the Salisbury Police Department early Sunday morning on Fairground Drive, causing the department to issue a request to residents to refrain from such behavior.

“As this national prank continues to grow, the Salisbury Police Department strongly discourages anyone copying such behavior in an effort to avoid a potentially dangerous encounter,” the department said in a press release.

In two separate Fairground Drive incidents, residents reported that they saw three individuals wearing clown masks with orange and blue hair hiding in the bushes and jumping out to scare people. One clown was wearing a black suit and the other two clowns were wearing white suits.

Officers searched the area, but were not able to find the clowns.

Dressing like a clown is not illegal, but hiding in bushes or wooded areas with the intent of scaring people is a dangerous situation and can lead to unintended consequences, police said.

The Salisbury Police Department is asking anyone with information concerning these clown sightings to contact Crime Solvers at 410-548- 1776 or the Police Department at 410-548-3165.

Johnson said the culprits in Salisbury are probably locals jumping on the creepy clown bandwagon.

“I don’t think it’s a band of people traveling around the country trying to scare people,” she said.

USA Today and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

On Twitter @LizHolland5

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