Florida parents plan to arm themselves while trick-or-treating due to clown sightings

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Some Florida residents are so concerned over reports of creepy clowns threatening residents that they are going to arm themselves when they go out trick-or-treating for Halloween.

“I’ll be carrying for sure, I’m not leaving to chance,” Kimberly Kersey told Florida Today. “I’m terrified of clowns already and if one messes with me or my kids it’ll be to the hospital or morgue they go.”

However, authorities are worried that this could lead to danger for people dressing up as clowns for a joke.

— People dressed as clowns are terrorizing Georgia residents —

“The problem is that someone dressed like a clown could scare someone and there’s a possibility, a possibility you could end up with someone getting shot,” said Palm Bay Police Lt. Mike Banish. “A person could think that they’re about to get robbed.”

According to the Sun Sentinel, the worries were so intense that one school district banned clown costumes altogether. “While many of the clown threats in our community and across the nation have proven to be hoaxes, it is still best for us to continue to operate in an abundance of caution,” the district said in a call to parents.

Sheriff Wayne Ivey said that patrols would be increased as usual for Halloween and that they would be on the lookout for anything suspicious.

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