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Reported Creepy Clown Sightings At Mass. Schools Prompt Police Response

BOSTON (CBS) -- Police at colleges and universities across Massachusetts responded to reports of creepy clowns on campus overnight, adding to the nationwide hysteria of suspicious sightings.

Police at Emmanuel College received an "inundation of calls" of sightings on campus shortly after midnight Tuesday.

"There is no emergency and the rumor that there are clowns in the area attacking people are not credible," Jack Kelly, Director of Campus Safety, said in an email to students and staff.

Students at Merrimack College were briefly told to shelter in place Monday night and a residence hall was evacuated after someone reported an armed clown on campus. A staff member saw a threat posted on a Twitter account called Clown Watch say there was a clown holding a rifle on the third floor of the Monican Centre dorm.

Administers at Merrimack have since reached out to Twitter asking them to shut down the account.

A similar incident was reported at UMass Amherst Monday night. Authorities found no suspicious persons in any of the cases.

Police in Lowell have also received calls of clown sightings.

"We send resources which takes them out of other areas that they need to be," said Lowell Police Capt. Tim Crowley. "What if someone is overdosing, and we have the Narcan available. You're taking people away from other more serious issues."

In Dedham, a school superintendent sent a letter to parents to watch for signs of the clown hoax saying, in part, "please monitor your child's activity through their personal media access."

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