Eight-year-old Swedish boy jumps from balcony to escape killer clown

An eight-year-old boy in Sweden jumped from the balcony of his family home on Saturday after a person wearing a scary clown costume appeared at the doorway. Oliver was home alone after his mother and sister went to get groceries when there was a knock at the door.

Assuming the knock was his family members, he opened the door to reportedly find an adult male wearing a clown costume. Hoping to escape the frightening man, Oliver ran to the balcony. Neighbours said they saw him as he jumped the three meters into a courtyard.

According to thelocal.se, Oliver's mother said that he was visible disturbed from the incident and is now constantly looking around him. When she arrived home, she found her son with a group of neighbours saying they had seen the man in their living room.

The police were called but the costumed intruder escaped. Oliver told a local radio station that he is still scared in the evenings "because that's when the clowns come".

A recent spate of such incidents have been occurring all over the UK and US – people dress up as 'killer clowns' and attempt to terrify strangers. The craze has continued to the point that a number of police forces issued warnings in the run up to Halloween saying that those taking part could find themselves being arrested.

In the UK, one 18-year-old was fine £90 for scaring people outside a school while a student at Brunel University was arrested after a video was posted showing him chasing people with a chainsaw while in a clown costume.