The man, whom police did not identify, “was determined to be a parent of one of the students on the bus,” police said Thursday in a Facebook post.

Auburn police say they will bring charges against a man who allegedly followed a school bus — and children getting off the bus — in his car earlier this week, while wearing a clown mask.

A man in a clown mask allegedly followed a school bus in Auburn, police said.

Police will seek charges of disorderly conduct and disturbing the peace in Worcester District Court, they said.

“This caused extreme fear to the children and also caused them to have to hide under a nearby backyard deck to avoid the man,” police said. The incident happened Tuesday.


Police said they were trying to set an example.

“We are hopeful that others will learn from this incident and not repeat these types of behaviors,” police said in a statement. “We sincerely appreciate the assistance of those who contacted us with information that led to this individual being identified.”

In their Facebook post, police included a picture of the alleged suspect, who can be seen wearing the mask while behind the wheel of a beige vehicle.

People dressing up as creepy clowns has become a problem in many communities nationwide, including in Massachusetts.

A freshman at Methuen High School will be summonsed to court after he wore a clown mask through the school halls this week and pretended that his cellphone was a gun.

In Rehoboth, police arrested a teen for making threats through Twitter, playing off the clown trend.

Students at Merrimack College this week also had a scare. On Monday night, they were briefly told to shelter in place, and a dorm was evacuated, after a fake report of an armed clown in the residence hall.

In Connecticut, a school district banned clown costumes this Halloween season. People in at least 26 states have recently reported strange clown sightings or encounters, according to a Globe report.


Steve Annear can be reached at steve.annear@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @steveannear.