Three men wearing horror-movie-inspired masks and allegedly wielding knives were spotted near campus this weekend, where they reportedly followed people walking down the sidewalk and knocked on the windows of homes.

The Charleston Police Department declined to comment about the incidents, instead saying to file a Freedom of Information Act request for more details.

On Saturday around midnight, the men approached a group of women, including Eastern student Alex Schulte, sitting on their porch on the 1100 block of Sixth Street and surrounded the porch while wearing dark clothing and masks.

“They were just staring at us and like tilting their hands and would point at one of us,” Schulte said. “Someone said something, then they ran away.”

Later that same night one of Schulte’s roommates heard a knock on her bedroom window they believe was from the same men.

The trio returned to the home Sunday night, this time, tapping on the windows of the home while the girls were in their living room doing homework. Shulte said they assumed the knock was someone they knew passing through the yard, but it was the same three men instead.

“Here they were again, all standing outside our window watching us,” she said. “We had no idea how long they were there for or anything. We didn’t notice them until they tapped on our window.”

At around 11 p.m. on Saturday night, a different female student who asked to remain anonymous was walking down the sidewalk from her apartment on 9th Street, when she says she noticed a car parked by a stop sign.  Three people, one wearing a Jason Voorhees mask, from the movie “Friday the 13th” and one wearing a white wig, exited the vehicle and began to follow her “uncomfortably closely” down the sidewalk.

“They didn’t say anything or touch me,” she said. “But a car came by and they ran back to their vehicle.”

Since the incidents happened over the weekend, a twitter account with the handle @MaskedMen4 and a bio that reads “We’re watching you,” claimed in an interview to be the same men involved with the sightings.

However, the twitter account denied the use of any knives during the incidents, saying they do not use them for “safety purposes.”

“Our intentions are to only scare/prank, not harm,” they said in an interview. “We do it for a YouTube channel and the thrill of enjoyment. We don’t use knives, that was a false accusation. We never touch or harm anyone.”

The self-named “Masked Men” plan on continuing their pranks in the future, despite calls to the police and conflicting reports on the use of weapons.

“We don’t want to get in trouble or harm anyone and want to do everything in legal terms only,” they said. “All fun and games, that’s it. We will most likely do more though.”

JJ Bullock can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected]