ATLANTA — A man wearing a clown mask with a machete has left people very afraid in one northeast Atlanta community.
His actions have forced apartment managers to warn tenants to lock their doors and be extra careful.
One man told Channel 2’s Tom Jones the man with the clown mask chased him, swinging at him wildly with his machete.
“I was scared for my life,” the man said, asking not to be identified over safety concerns.
The medical field professional said he stepped outside his apartment at the intersection of Lindbergh and Adina Drives near the Lindbergh MARTA station on Nov. 12 around 1:30 p.m. He was out for a walk.
He told Jones that’s when he noticed a well-dressed man with a clown mask and a tricycle.
He said the man performed some clown moves and then began pursuing him.
He said he backed away. Then he says the man pulled out a machete.
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“He was swinging. Like he was literally doing this to me. Coming toward me,” the man said.
The man in the mask has confronted other people in the area, and someone posted a picture of him on the Next Door website.
Meanwhile, the man who the attacker chased couldn’t believe what was going on.
“I’m literally thinking it’s a prank,” he said.
That was until the man began chasing him.
“I pulled out my gun and said, ‘Please leave me alone.’ He still came after me,” the victim said.
He said the machete-wielding clown mask-wearing attacker chased him into the busy intersection with cars whizzing by.
“A car almost clipped him,” the man said.
And that’s how he got away.
Apartment managers sent out flyers warning people to be on the lookout for someone wearing a clown mask with a machete coming up to strangers in the area.
It warned them to lock their doors and be vigilant about their safety.
“Oh wow. Interesting,” said one man who looked at the photo of the man. “Pretty frightening. Scared.”
The man who was chased wants people to be on the lookout for the clown mask-wearingexhibiting man.
He said this could have ended badly because the attacker got within 5 feet of him.
“Police said he could have easily struck me with the machete at that range,” the man said.
Police said they have stepped up patrols in the area.
They’re asking anyone who sees someone exhibiting erratic behavior with a weapon to call 911 immediately.
People who live in the area said they’ve had all kinds of trouble from some of those who are unhoused and live under the nearby bridges and parks.
One woman said that, and this incident, may force her to move.