[ad_1]
A 13-year-old Connecticut student who overdosed on fentanyl at a Hartford school has died, according to law enforcement officials.
The seventh-grader had been listed in “grave condition” at a hospital after he collapsed in the gymnasium at the Sports and Medical Science Academy in Hartford on Thursday.
He died around 5:30 p.m. Saturday night, Hartford police told WVIT. Police said they are not releasing the student’s name at this time.
“Our city grieves for this child lost, for his loved ones, his friends, his teachers, and the entire SMSA family,” Mayor Luke Bronin said in a statement, obtained by the outlet.
“We still have much to learn about the circumstances of this tragedy, and about how a child had access to such a shocking quantity of such deadly drugs, and our police department will continue their investigation and seek to hold accountable the adults who ultimately are responsible for this child’s death.”
After he collapsed, a school nurse performed CPR on the unconscious boy until EMTs arrived and rushed him to Connecticut Children’s Medical Center. Police said they found evidence of the opiate — which is fatal if taken even in tiny doses — near the teenager.
Two other potential victims, who never lost consciousness, were identified by school staff and admitted to the hospital for observation after complaining of dizziness. Police believed all three had come into contact with the deadly drug at the same time. Those two students had been released from the hospital and were at home by Saturday, officials said.
The school was evacuated and drug-sniffing dogs were brought in to help with a thorough search of the building, officials said. During the search, police found 40 small bags containing what was determined to be powdered fentanyl, Hartford Police Lt. Aaron Boisvert told reporters at a press conference. The bags were found in two classrooms and the gymnasium.
The school was closed on Friday and will be closed for Martin Luther King Day on Monday while the building is wiped clean. The state Department of Public Health will notify school officials when it is deemed safe to return.
Police said they believe the students brought the drugs to school
Hartford Superintendent Leslie Torres-Rodriguez said counseling is being offered for students and staff.
“[Thursday] was a very challenging day, a hard day, a scary day for our school community at The Sport and Medical Sciences Academy and our entire Hartford Public Schools community,” she said, according to WVIT.
No arrests have been made and the investigation is ongoing, police said.
[ad_2]