Over the past few weeks the nation’s children have felt uneasy and at times unsafe in attending school.

The latest wave of fear to sweep the country has been clowns. Mesquite, of all places, is certainly not immune.

By Friday afternoon on Oct. 7, rumors were flying through the Virgin Valley High School that Hughes Middle School (HMS) had been placed on lockdown for unknown reasons. Sergeant Rob Stepp with the Mesquite Police Department (MPD) confirmed to the Mesquite Local News that day that the school had never actually been locked down at any time, but that there had been a tip of a possible strike on the school so officers took appropriate action.

According to Stepp, Hughes Middle School principal Maurice Perkins received a phone call in the evening of Oct. 6 from a concerned parent who had heard of a possible clown strike to HMS the next day. Perkins alerted the MPD who in turn stepped up their presence that morning.

“There was nobody actually in clown costumes,” said Officer Taylor Bundy. “We had officers canvasing the area and extra patrols just to be safe.”

According to sources, there was a Facebook page, much like in other instances across the nation that suggested there would be a strike at HMS. That page, according to Stepp, has been taken down and investigators are looking into finding the person who set the page up.

Both Stepp and Bundy confirmed that anyone found linked to the pages, threats or incidents could potentially face criminal charges for such.

“At this time, there have been no incidents, and we plan on keeping our community safe,” said Bundy.