BOSTON (CBS) -- Police at colleges and universities across Massachusetts responded to reports ... was evacuated after someone reported an armed clown on campus. A staff member saw a threat posted ...

UPDATE: Students at Merrimack College were briefly told to shelter in place Monday night and a dorm was evacuated after a report of an armed clown in the residence hall, but authorities found ...

Load YouTube video Clown scares actually originated in Massachusetts. Many trace the craze back to Brookline in 1981, when police dealt with a series of complaints from elementary school ...

Clown "mass hysteria" broke out last week after a Lewistown woman spread false rumors on social media that clowns were planning to cause mayhem at Mifflin County School District schools ...

Just this week, hundreds of students in Pennsylvania State University swarmed surrounding campus streets to carry out a mass clown hunt. A Connecticut school district said it is banning clown ...