Recent stories about people dressed as clowns terrorizing people across the nation are going viral, even right here in Mississippi.

The Meridian Police Department says they've gotten many questions, with no actual evidence of clowns in the area. But a recent clown report at Meridian Community College has students talking.

"I heard it was a lot of people going around dressed as clowns, terrorizing people," MCC freshman Adrion Gordon says.

"They say they were in the woods, by the girls' dorm down there. They say they were playing basketball on the slab and stuff," MCC freshman Elton Neal says.

It's like something out of a horror movie - people reporting clowns lurking in the shadows of Meridian. Police say this photo circulating of a clown supposedly on 7th Street was fake, but the rumors are still running rampant.

"We actually went on 7th Street and we rolled all the way down 7th Street, and didn't see a clown," MCC freshman Joshua Cross says. "And we pulled back up to campus and heard the school had gotten locked down."

Meridian Community College wasn't actually on lockdown. But officials say two girls did report seeing a clown near College Park. Campus police immediately hit the scene.

"Nothing was found as they responded," Ray Denton, MCC dean of Learning Resources, says. "They did look at the MCC security camera video and could not identify anything there."

Campus officials say there's no real protocol for dealing with clowns on campus. But they say if you do get the idea to come here dressed up as a clown, be warned. Campus police will treat you as an intruder. Students on campus have different opinions.

"It's just a prank!" Neal says, adding that he would shake the clown's hand if he saw it.

"It's not scary, but I'll just be on my tip toes and watch my surroundings," Gordon says.

"We're not going to get killed," MCC freshman Caila Young says. "On God. We're going to have to square up on them."

"You can actually put yourself in danger because you never know the next person who could have a gun or a knife or a blade, and I think it's very idiotic," MCC freshman Timothy Hill says.

Wayne County officials confirmed a clown sighting in the Clara community Tuesday night. It turned out it was a volunteer firefighter dressing up in an old Halloween costume. Sheriff Jody Ashley says the firefighter will not be prosecuted. A county economic official says an internal discipline process is underway.