Clayton County

‘He could have snatched my daughter': Mom says man is watching kids near bus stop

CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. — A mother says a strange man is watching kids near her 5-year-old daughter's bus stop, especially after an encounter Wednesday morning.

Chloe Leonard said the bus picks up and drops off her daughter at Knotty Pine Place and Thorne Ridge Trail in Clayton County. The stop is right in front of a burned-out house.

Leonard told Channel 2's Alyssa Hyman she's concerned about children's safety.

"She said, ‘Mommy, there's a guy running out of the garage,' and she runs towards me," Leonard said.

The mother said her daughter told her the man came from inside the burned-out house but started running toward a wooded area as soon as he heard Leonard's voice.

"Why would anyone be in a burned down house that no one's supposed to be in?" she said. "He could have snatched my daughter."

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Leonard said she immediately called Clayton County police and Clayton County School District.

Ultimately, she called Channel 2 Action News, concerned that this wasn't being taken seriously.

When Hyman contacted police, a spokesperson said the sector commander plans to increase patrols in the area of the bus stop starting Friday.

"My children are at that bus stop every single morning, and they are by themselves so extremely concerned," parent Rashanda Griffin said.

But after hearing Leonard's story, some parents think the bus stop should be moved completely.

"They can definitely choose another stop other than an abandoned burned down house for children to wait at every morning by themselves," Griffin said.

Clayton County School District officials said they are looking into the situation.