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Police: Ohio man scaring daughter with clown mask results in shooting

BOARDMAN, Ohio (WKBN) – A father scaring his daughter resulted in a chase around the neighborhood, a gunshot and charges against two Boardman men.

Vernon Barrett Jr. wore a clown mask and chased his six-year-old daughter around the neighborhood, according to Boardman Police.

The child jumped into a stranger’s car, and then ran down the street and into a stranger’s apartment. She screamed to the family that a clown was chasing her, police said.

The family looked out the window and saw the girl’s father wearing the clown mask.

Dion Santiago, a man at the apartment, fired a gunshot into his yard, but didn’t hit Barrett, who was still wearing clown mask, police said.

Barrett was charged with child endangerment and inducing panic. Santiago was charged with using weapons while intoxicated, the report said.

He claimed the girl’s mother is serving jail time for child endangerment after being convicted of breaking four of the girl’s ribs, police said.

Barrett said his daughter was having behavioral issues, but he decided to scare her as discipline instead of spanking because of what her mother did, the report said.