The growing rash of reported threats involving clowns has law enforcement agencies across Ohio working to identify legitimate threats while warning hoaxes are no laughing matter.

The number of arrests in the Cincinnati area rose overnight from two to seven, as Montgomery police charged an additional five students with inciting panic Friday for allegedly suggesting a "Clown Clan" descend on their schools.

Another arrest also was made in Fairborn. Police charged a 15-year-old boy with making terroristic threats, a felony, after he allegedly used a clown persona on social media to threaten death to Fairborn High School students.

A false report prompted a precautionary lockdown at a Dayton middle school Friday.

Sugarcreek police in Amish Country determined a girl's social media post reporting a clown with a knife was false.

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