The clown threats that have affected many places across the country reached Philadelphia this past weekend.

As these threats became viral on social media, they have garnered about the same amount of fear as a shooting or bomb threat. What is it that makes clowns so scary?

“Once you get the meme going, social media can play a big role. It self-perpetuates and people look for examples to fit the narrative,” said Christopher Ferguson, a professor and co-chair of Psychology at Stetson University.

Clowns can be considered a wolf in sheep’s clothing as their purpose is to be a source of entertainment and child friendly so the mere thought of them being threatening can cause people to have nightmares.

We can take John Wayne Gacy Jr. as an example. He worked as a clown, but was a serial killer and rapist known as the Killer Clown. His clown persona allowed him to gain the trust of both adults and children and made it easier for him to lure his victims, 33 teenage boys who he sexually assaulted and murdered.

Most clowns in pop culture are dark. We can look at Pennywise from ‘It,’ Batman’s Joker, and more recently Twisty from ‘American Horror Story: Freak show.’

In fact, coulrophobia, or the fear of clowns, is one of the most common phobias. Playing on the common fear is what is aiding the clown threats to go viral.

“Whether parents need to clutch their kids closer because Stephen King’s ‘It’ is running around, I don’t think we have to be worried about that just yet,” Ferguson stated. “Social media is perpetuating these urban legends into something bigger than they are.”

These new threats are not the first time that coulrophobia has caused people to panic in the United States.

In 1981, the Boston Police Department as well as other cities in the United States began to receive tips that people dressed as clowns were luring kids into vans with candy and harassing children in parks. While some claims were backed up and police apprehended the suspects, others were not.

Two types of clown-sightings emerged. “Phantom clown” sightings occur when a person’s mind plays a trick on them because the anxiety is so overwhelming. “Stalker clown” sightings occur when there is someone dressed as a clown lurking and trying to scare people.

Today, social media is aiding the circulation of the clown threats and clown sightings. The threats and sightings are going viral and police are taking the threats seriously.

Ferguson says the viral posts can create a “self-perpetuating panic that does not happen much."

"It’s similar to the knock-out game where juveniles were said to be playing a game in which they would knock-out strangers with one punch,” Ferguson said. “If nobody is saying ‘Hold on, let’s put the brakes on this’ then people get upset and anxious, this can cause these false positives. People are scanning for danger and establishing innocuous situations as more dangerous than they actually are.”

Amani!

The Philadelphia Zoo announced the new name of its baby gorilla Monday following an online vote.

"Amani" which means "peace" in Swahili won the voting by a landslide, according to a release issued by the Zoo Monday.

Honi, 22, gave birth to the female western lowland gorilla on Aug. 26. Voters were able to choose between Amani, Isangi, Mapendo and Muyisa – the names of gorillas orphaned by poachers in the Democratic Republic of Congo by the Gorilla Rehabilitation and Conservation Education (GRACE).

Amani is named after an 8-year-old gorilla who lives at GRACE and who was rescued in 2009 as part of a 3-month investigation by the Congolese wildlife authority.

“We are thrilled that people around the world showed their support by helping to name our gorilla Amani and supporting orphaned gorillas at GRACE. Zoos have a vital role in fostering connections between people and animals and this is a great example of this linkage,” says Kim Lengel, the Zoo’s VP for Conservation and Education.

Due to poaching and habitat destruction, both Grauer and western lowland gorillas are listed a critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), said the zoo.

Voting opened Tuesday morning and ran through Thursday. Each voter donated at least $1 to GRACE with the zoo matching all donations up to $10,000.

Zoo officials said online voting proceeds totaled $6,600, which the zoo matched to equal a total donation to GRACE of $13,200.

Authorities are investigating the death of an 7-year-old boy found unconscious with broken bones in a bathtub at a New Jersey apartment Saturday afternoon.

The boy, identified as Michael Moore, was pronounced dead not long after authorities responded to the scene on Munn Avenue in Newark.

His death has been ruled suspicious, and a medical examiner was called in to perform an autopsy.

The boy's mother, 28-year-old Khadejrah Rawls, was charged with child endangerment in the case. Her boyfriend, 29-year-old Christopher Spearman, was charged with aggravated assault. Both were charged based on the child's injuries.

Attorney information for the two wasn't immediately available.

It's not clear if either will face homicide charges in the child's death.

Authorities said that the boy's four siblings, his mother and her boyfriend all lived in the apartment, along with three puppies. All of them were removed from the home.

Neighbors nearby set up a small vigil for Moore on Monday morning, signing "rest in peace" on a poster for the boy.

Moore's death came a little more than a month before his eighth birthday. 

Pennsylvania State Police are digging and searching at the home of a Ross Township, Monroe County man who once worked with a woman who went missing more than three years ago.

Holly Grim was last seen around 6:30 a.m. on November 22, 2013 near her home at the Red Maples Mobile Home Park on 1190 Grange Road in Lower Macungie Township. Grim had driven her son to a bus stop and was then supposed to go to her job at Allen Organs in Macungie. Grim never showed up to work however and her empty car was found in her driveway. She has not been seen since then.

On Tuesday State Police began searching through the backyard and woods of a home in Ross Township. The search continued Monday. Police say the home belongs to a man who once worked with Grim at Allen Organs. The man left his job about four months after Grim’s disappearance.

Police obtained a search warrant for the home but no charges have been filed. Grim’s mother Jeanette Grim, told NBC10 she knows the homeowner and had also worked with him at Allen Organs along with her daughter. Jeanette also said she heard reports that a human bone was found near the home. Despite this, she is confident that her daughter is still alive.

“Don’t give up hope,” she said. “You have to have hope and prayers. I think she’s out there hopefully being taken care of. I know she’s thinking of her son. I’m going to keep looking.”

Jeanette is currently raising her grandson and hopes her daughter will come home to see how much he’s grown.

“To Holly I would say I love you and I know when you get the opportunity you will come home to us,” she said. “We are doing our best to bring your son up bright and you’d be very proud of him.”

Grim is a white woman who stands approximately 5-foot-3, weighs approximately 100 pounds and has brown hair and brown eyes. If you have any information on her whereabouts, please call the Fogelsville Station at 610-395-1438.

Kids in their Eagles #11 jerseys hung over the railing in the Fargodome for nearly an hour Saturday, waiting, hoping. At times one young girl with a broken leg actually held her breath in anticipation.

Surely the man of the moment was running out with the team or being recognized in some way during the Bison's homecoming game? "Just hang tight," a security guard reassured the girl. "I heard he's coming out with the coaches."

A Carson Wentz appearance seemed certain. People in the overgrown college town of Fargo had talked about it for days. Everyone knew Wentz was back home during his bye week. 

His Twitter picture of the buck he bagged bow hunting earlier in the week had elevated him from household name to folk hero status. They'd heard about the commercial he shot downtown Friday. You couldn’t turn on a local TV or radio station without seeing or hearing something about Wentz. Heck, the school even had a "Welcome Home Wentz" Snapchat filter inside the stadium.

Minutes before 1 p.m., the lights went down for the Bison football team's homecoming highlight reel. Up popped a draft day footage of Wentz and Roger Goodell holding up an Eagles jersey. The sold-out crowd of 19,000 erupted.[[395734661,C]]

Out ran the players amid ear-covering cheers, but no sign of Wentz. The private, understated guy apparently didn't want the spotlight, or maybe didn't want to take it away from the team he helped lead last year to an unprecedented 5th consecutive championship.

Along the sidelines at North Dakota State University, local reporters speculated Wentz might come down at the end of the first quarter. When that didn't happen, the girl with the broken leg hobbled back to her seat.

You might expect a sense of disappointment from fans, but people in Fargo seem to not only get Wentz, but also embrace his low-profile approach to life.[[395506191,C]]

So don’t mistake Wentz’s folk hero status for rock-star status. The Wentz narrative goes more like this: Here's a kid who's showing the rest of the country what can happen when you have a gifted athlete with an eidetic memory and discipline that seems void of distraction. Bake that with his faith and Bismarck family values and you get a guy who seems almost too good to be true.

"Just make sure you tell people in Philly that Carson Wentz makes us proud," said Kimberly Christianson. “No ego. Down to earth.”

Echo.

It’s almost like everyone has the Wentz talking points.

Humble.
Determined.
Disciplined.
Hates to lose.
Idolizes his brother Zach.
Good kid.
He represents us well.
We're so proud of him.
He'll never change.
What do you think in Philly?

Fargo's collective consciousness is different than Philly's, where outsiders are suspect until proven otherwise. Fargo is the ultimate booster club and right now Carson Wentz has amplified opportunities.

"Oh yeah, definitely he's brought a financial boost to the area," said Roger Gilbertson, one of the owners of Herd and Horns, Fargo's most popular bar for sports fans and NDSU students. Mortgages at the bank where Wentz’s dad works now come with an autographed jersey.[[395724461,C,597,325]]

"You guys got a gem," a former Bison player said Saturday night leaving a private party where Carson Wentz and fiancée Melissa Uhrich grabbed time together with friends and former players.

Are they gonna get married?

"They're the real deal," said Brent Tehven, co-owner of Herd & Horns and sales manager of the magazine Bison Illustrated. He’s known Wentz for years and flew to Philly for the Eagles first game. Melissa was on the same flight, headed down last-minute, Tehven said, because she wasn't sure if she could get time off from her nursing job.

"I mean think about that for a minute,” Tehven said. “Some people might say, 'He's got how much money? And she's worried about a day off?!’ But what does that tell you?”

Turns out Wentz actually was at Saturday’s homecoming game. He showed up well before it started, almost inconspicuously making his way onto the field. If you didn't know he was the most talked about quarterback in the NFL last week, you would've thought he was just a 22-year-old who came back to hang with his friends and former teammates. Jeans, Bison sweatshirt, baseball hat and farm-boy swagger. Wentz threw the ball a bit while Easton Stick, his old roommate and this year's starting quarterback, warmed up his arm.[[395612791,C]]

And then Wentz made Cameron Winkler's day, stopping to talk and take pictures with the 8-year-old.[[395717171,C]]

During game time he stayed far above the field,going over play sheets in the coaches' booth.[[395591121,C]]
Long after fans emptied out and the clean-up crew was nearly finished, 6'5" Wentz politely declined interviews, making his way back to his white Ram 1500 pickup truck parked in the $5 lot.

"Last year he was just one of the guys. Today he has two security guards," said Fargo newsman and radio talk show host Mike McFeely.

North Dakotans are well aware of the way Philadelphia sports fans can passionately love – or hate – their athletes. But no one seems worried about whether Wentz can mentally handle Philly. People here still tailgate in sub-zero temps and winter conditions that would prompt a state of emergency in Philly.[[395716771,C,600,338]]

"That's Carson Wentz! Hey Carson!”

Students walking back from their post-game partying glanced inside Herd & Horns. There was Wentz, playing pool, laughing; maybe catching the last gasp of his cocooned life. The air was crisp, 54 degrees, above average for fall in Fargo. A small crowd started to gather. Some people got right up on the smokey-colored plate glass bar front to get a better look.

Doors were locked. Chairs already up on table tops, floors swept and mopped in every room but one. Inside, one of the owners was doing his best to give Carson Wentz some uninterrupted time with friends, his fiancée and former players.

"Pretty quiet in there, huh," he asked a worker who was running another plate of hot wings into the room at 1 a.m. Sunday for Wentz and the dozen or so people left.

"Not so much anymore," the server said. "I think they're finally gettin' going in there."

The same day police announced a 13-year-old girl was behind some of the social media posts threatening violent attacks on Philadelphia schools, another 13-year-old girl as well as a 14-year-old boy were arrested for allegedly making similar threats against students in Washington Township, New Jersey.

Washington Township Police told NBC10 a 13-year-old girl who attends Bunker Hill Middle School in Washington Township had made threatening social media posts about clown attacks at students and residents of the Washington Township community. The threats warned people that they should be scared and should not walk by themselves. The threats also mentioned specific targets, according to officials.

The teen girl was arrested and charged. Police say the girl's family is also cooperating with the investigation. Investigators say the girl made the threats because it was a popular trend around the country and she thought it would be funny.

Police also told NBC10 a 14-year-old boy was also arrested in Washington Township for making similar threats in a separate incident. The boy attends Washington Township High School, according to police. 

Similar clown threats were made against Philadelphia schools over the weekend. Philadelphia police announced Monday afternoon that their investigation, along with tips from the public, helped them to identify a 13-year-old girl who they say was involved in the social media posts about clown attacks at schools. Police did not identify the girl, but said she is a student at a local school.

"This juvenile indicated that this 'prank only' was committed with a friend at her school and she never had any intent to harm anyone," a release from police said.

Police said they're forwarding the information in the case to the district attorney's office for review. Criminal charges could potentially be brought if the D.A.'s office decides to prosecute.

The Archdiocese of Philadelphia on Monday sent a letter to parents regarding the threats, which also mentioned Ss. Neumann and Goretti High School in at least one post.

"All schools will operate on a normal schedule this week unless otherwise noted. Schools that were specifically named in threats have been in direct contact with law enforcement and will have police presence as needed," the letter read in part, adding that added police would be strictly a precaution.

The Archdiocese told parents they and their children should not respond to any of the posts on social media.

The unsettling and creepy clown posts surfaced on several Instagram accounts over the weekend and named Philadelphia schools specifically, threatening violence, including shootings and kidnappings, at the schools at certain times throughout the week.

The posts quickly garnered attention, stoking fear among parents and students and prompting police and the School District of Philadelphia to issue a joint statement on Sunday assuring the public that they were investigating the threats and taking them seriously.

The posts came on the heels of a number of reports of clown sightings across the country that surfaced in recent weeks, including several in the Philadelphia area and surrounding counties.

Police in northeastern Pennsylvania about two weeks ago said they were investigating in Pottsville after receiving a report that a 12-year-old girl and her friends were chased by a clown, who then threw a stick at them and yelled obscenities before running back into the woods. Last week in Reading, police said a 16-year-old boy was stabbed to death after someone in a clown mask may have provoked a confrontation.

Reports of clown sightings have also surfaced in Lower Macungie, Easton and New Jersey over the last several weeks.

We are pleased to welcome Erin Coleman to the NBC10 and Telemundo62 team!

Erin will co-anchor NBC10 News at 5 p.m. with Keith Jones. She joins us from WSB-TV in Atlanta where she anchored the Monday through Friday 4 p.m. news.

Erin is a graduate of Brown University and has a Master’s Degree from Columbia University’s School of Journalism. Before working in Atlanta, Erin worked at WRAL-TV in Raleigh, WFMY-TV in Greensboro and KAIT-TV in Jonesboro, Arkansas.

NBC10 is a homecoming for Erin who is originally from the Philadelphia area. She was born at Pennsylvania Hospital and raised in South Jersey. She also got married at Mother Bethel AME in Center City.

Erin’s parents, Dr. Beverly Coleman of the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and Dr. Everod Coleman are happy to have their daughter and two grandchildren back in the area.

Motorists traveling down Roosevelt Boulevard experienced an unusual traffic jam Sunday. Cell phone videos captured a man peddling a big wheel down the Boulevard as cars tried to dodge him.

“I just so happened to maneuver my way to the front of the traffic and I saw the guy on the trike,” said Akeem Edwards. “I’m like, ‘what the heck?’”

Edwards pulled over and began recording the man on his phone.

“He actually looked at me and he smiled as he was rolling by,” Edwards said.

Edwards told NBC10 he didn’t see any police cars as the man continued to peddle down the Boulevard. NBC10 also found another video of the man riding the big wheel as cars maneuvered out of the way to avoid an accident.

“Not only is it dangerous, it’s insane,” said Al Walton Jr., a bicyclist. “And without a helmet.”

Edwards told NBC10 all of his friends and coworkers are asking him about the video. He said of all the times he’s driven on the highway, he never expected to see someone riding something similar to his daughter’s tricycle.

Police told NBC10 they’re investigating the video. No charges have been filed in connection to the incident.

Authorities at the Jersey Shore confirmed Tuesday that a man died in a police-involved shooting in a shore town after a barricade Monday night.

Police responded to a home on the 100 block of Derby Avenue in Ventnor about 8 p.m. Monday. SWAT officers surrounded a home for more than an hour before the situation was declared under control.

Officials with the Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office said Tuesday that one man died in a police-involved shooting during that incident. They did not provide any additional details, referring all questions to the state Attorney General's Office, which investigates all police shootings.