Atwater teenager chased by mysterious hammer-wielding man in black

A man dressed in black chased a 15-year-old girl onto a high school campus in Atwater early Wednesday, the Police Department reported.

The student was walking towards the Buhach Colony High School campus around 7:30 a.m. in the area of De La Vina Court when the man confronted her, wielding a hammer, Chief Samuel Joseph said.

The teenager ran and the man, described as a black adult possibly with a neck tattoo, dropped the hammer and chased her, police said.

She made it onto campus and alerted authorities. She was not injured.

Police said the man ran onto the campus briefly, but left heading towards De La Vina Court.

Officers searched the area and found a hammer with a wood handle in the area, but did not locate the man.

Joseph said police have not ruled out the possibility the incident may have been some type of Halloween-related stunt.

“Things like that do get reported around this time of year,” Joseph acknowledged. “But we’re investigating it and if anyone from the public has information, we’d like them to call our school-resource officer.”

This story was originally published October 25, 2017 at 4:28 PM with the headline "Atwater teenager chased by mysterious hammer-wielding man in black."