A father in Boardman decided to wear a clown mask and scare his daughter to discipline her, resulting in a chase around the neighborhood, a gunshot and charges, according to WYTV.
Boardman police told the ABC affiliate in Youngstown that Vernon Barrett Jr. wore a clown mask and chased his six-year-old daughter around the neighborhood.
The girl reportedly jumped into a stranger's car and then ran down the street into a stranger's apartment. WYTV says the girl screamed to the family inside that a clown was chasing her.
Dion Santiago, a man at the apartment, saw Barrett wearing a clown mask and fired a gunshot into his yard, according to the news outlet. The gunshot didn't hit Barrett.
Barrett was charged with child endangerment and inducing panic, according to WYTV, and Santiago was charged with using weapons while intoxicated.
The ABC affiliate reports Barrett claimed the girl's mother is serving jail time for child endangerment after being convicted of breaking four of the girl's ribs. Police told WYTV Barrett said his daughter was having behavioral issues and decided to discipline her by scaring her, as opposed to spanking her, because of what her mother did.
