Teen dressed as clown in doorbell videos has been detained for homicide
'Video footage of the suspect dressed in a clown costume has been circulating and ISP is currently working to collect all relevant video,' police said.
A doorbell camera captured footage of a teen dressed as a clown, who was taken into custody Monday night in connection with a homicide investigation in East St. Louis, Ill.
In a news release, Illinois State Police (ISP) said they received a report of a body in a roadway after 10 p.m. on Monday and identified the 15-year-old as a suspect.
“ISP PSEG Special Agents arrived on scene and a juvenile suspect was quickly identified. Special Agents later located the juvenile at a residence and took him into custody. There is no threat to the public,” the news release added.
The teenager, who has not been identified, was detained and it remains unclear whether they have been charged.
“Video footage of the suspect dressed in a clown costume has been circulating and ISP is currently working to collect all relevant video,” the news release said.
When Global News reached out to the Illinois State Police, they said the public information office would issue an updated press release about the situation on Thursday afternoon.
The victim was identified as John Wesley Allen Sr., 78, who died of multiple stab wounds, according to the St. Clair County Coroner’s Office.
East St. Louis resident Lora Palmer shared a clip allegedly of the teen dressed as a clown approaching their mother’s front door on Facebook.
In the video, the person whispers, “I’ve been looking for you,” before walking away from the home.
This isn’t the first time someone in a costume has been caught uttering threats on a doorbell camera.
Last October, police in Virginia were investigating doorbell footage of three people wearing Halloween masks while attempting to break into a home.
A Ring security camera showed the mask-wearing trio standing outside of Shayla Whiteside’s mother’s home in Alexandria, Va.
Whiteside told WUSA9 she was at the home with her mother — who was recently widowed — her younger brother and their family dog when the group arrived.
“At first I thought it was just a Halloween joke, a little prank,” Whiteside told the outlet. “So I said, ‘Happy Halloween.'”
That’s when the masked males made threats toward her and her family, saying they would kill them, while trying to get inside the house.
“Your worst nightmare. Open the f— up,” the suspects yelled after ringing the doorbell. One wore a clown mask, another wore a costume resembling Michael Myers from the Halloween film franchise and the third was dressed as a nun.
“It’s either you coming out or we coming in. Open the door,” one person said in the video, as he tried to open the front door.
Alexandria police Chief Tarrik McGuire said the incident was “a very serious matter.”
“They began to make threatening and alarming comments to the family … specifically, they said, ‘If you do not come out, we will come in,’ and also threatened to do bodily harm, stating that they would ultimately kill them,” McGuire said during a press conference.
It was later revealed in a news conference that the three costumed people were teen boys who were related to the victim.
McGuire said that a woman confessed that she, her two sons and her nephew staged the incident. There were also two additional adults reportedly filming the “prank.”
This story was originally published by Global News on August 6, 2026. CityAM Canada is republishing it for our Canadian readers.