Despite the close-knit nature of the
neighborhood where the Pennsylvania clown stabbing took place, so far
nobody has been taken into custody.
While the Pennsylvania clown stabbing seems to be following a trend
of widespread clown sightings over the summer of 2016, it seems
unrelated to the larger trend that has taken the South and Midwest by
storm for the last several weeks.
The summer
clown sightings began in South Carolina
at an apartment complex surrounded by a wooded area. Reportedly, in
that instance, the clowns being sighted were trying to lure children
into the forest with candy and money. Initially, the sightings were
discounted by parents and law enforcement as the overactive imaginations
of children, but eventually, parents and other adults began seeing the
clowns, too. The situation at the Fleetwood Manor Apartments got so bad
that the management sent out letters to residents, warning parents to
keep an eye on their kids because clowns had been lurking in the
surrounding woods.
Over the summer, the clown sightings spread to several states and
multiple law enforcement agencies. Despite the widespread reports,
police remained baffled. While cops continued to investigate, the clown
sightings continued and witnesses became increasingly credible.
Parents became increasingly concerned that their children were going
to disappear into the woods with an unidentified clown, never to be seen
or heard from again.
In addition to becoming more widespread, the clown sightings became increasingly violent in disturbing. Just a few weeks ago,
a student in Ohio reported being chased by a clown with a knife at a school bus stop.
Finally, last week in Kentucky, the
first clown sighting arrest
was made. In that instance, 20-year-old Jonathan Martin was taken into
custody after he was caught lurking in the woods dressed as a clown.
While dressing as a clown may not appear to be a crime, many states in
the South and Midwest made it clear to their residents that the behavior
wouldn’t be tolerated in the wake of a summer of disturbing clown
sightings.
The stabbing in Pennsylvania is the first of the year (which has now
transitioned from summer to fall) where a person has been injured, let
alone killed, by a clown.
***Update: An arrest has been made in the case of the
Pennsylvania clown stabbing. As
PennLive
reports, 29-year-old Avery Valentin-Bair has been arrested in
connection with the horrific, unfathomable crime. Reportedly, he turned
himself in to Pennsylvania police.
According to investigators, the mask involved in the slaying of
16-year-old Christian Torres was one similar to the masks featured in
The Purge
films, not a clown mask. It is now being reported that the victim and
his alleged killer were arguing over the mask at the time of the fatal
slaying, and that Torres himself may have had possession of or been
wearing the disturbing disguise when he was allegedly stabbed last
Sunday by Avery Valentin-Bair.
At this point, the suspect in the Pennsylvania clown stabbing (now
known to be not a clown-related crime at all, contrary to the initial
information released in the case) is being held on a multitude of
charges, including first-degree murder.***
Police say a dispute over a mask like one featured in the
"Purge" horror movies contributed to the fatal stabbing of a 16-year-old
Pennsylvania boy.
