DETROIT – A clown craze sweeping the nation has also landed in the metro Detroit area.

Over the past few days, clown sightings have occurred in Clinton Township, Sterling Heights, Troy and Brownstown.

Police in  Downriver are searching for a suspect who robbed a  Walgreens on West and Telegraph roads in Brownstown Township on Tuesday night.

According to police, the suspect entered the store with his gun drawn and demanded cash.

“He had on a black hoodie pulled over his head, a white clown mask underneath and dark colored pants,” Deputy Chief Robert Matthews told WWJ’s Charlie Langton.

The suspect escaped with $300 to $400 cash, fleeing the scene in a blue Chevy Impala.

Two women and one young child were also assaulted Tuesday night by men dressed as clowns.

In the first incident a boy was attacked by a man wearing a clown outfit and wielding a knife in a trailer park in Sterling Heights. The boy suffered minor cuts.

The second incident a couple hours later, involved two women who “were approached by three men dressed as clowns at Lowell and Boulder streets in Sterling Heights. 

“Three men in clown masks with baseball bats jumped out and started swinging them at the women,” according to the report.

Earlier in the day, Troy police said a clown was spotted on the campus of Athens High School. That incident scared students and worried parents. 

Police identified and spoke with that clown and determined there was no threat.

A Facebook post on the official Troy Police Department page reads, “DEAR CLOWNS: Clowns that break the law, including trespassing and threatening people, are subject to arrest just like anybody else…We support having fun and getting in to the Halloween spirit, but please do so in a law abiding and safe way.”

It seems the clown craze has also found it’s way on social media. 

An instagram page called “ClownsofDearborn” has been leaving threatening messages in instagram users’ inboxes. 

However, Dearborn Police Chief Ron Haddad stated that residents shouldn’t be too worried about the threats.