Teen in clown costume accused of killing elderly man, whispers ‘I’m looking for you’ on doorbell cam
A 15-year-old boy dressed in a clown costume has been arrested for the fatal stabbing of a 78-year-old Navy veteran in East St. Louis. The suspect was identified after doorbell camera footage captured him acting suspiciously in the neighborhood shortly before the random attack.
Why it matters
This incident highlights concerns regarding random violent crime and the use of surveillance technology in residential safety.
It looked like a scene from a horror film: A figure dressed in a baggy black and red clown outfit, their face partially covered, approaching a Ring camera late at night, glaring into the lens and whispering a warning, “I’m looking for you.” But the encounter was not just an elaborate scare. Illinois State Police say the person wearing a clown costume in video circulating online is a 15-year-old boy in custody in connection with a fatal stabbing of an elderly man in East St. Louis. East St. Louis police responded to the residential neighborhood east of Interstate 255 around 10 p.m. Monday after receiving a report of a body in the roadway. St. Clair County Coroner Calvin Dye Sr. identified the victim as 78-year-old John Wesley Allen Sr., and said he had been stabbed multiple times.
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