Story at a glance
- A 13-year-old student suffered an overdose at the Sport and Medical Sciences Academy in Hartford, Conn., Thursday morning.
- Police recovered about 40 bags of powdered fentanyl in the school.
- The teen died at the hospital on Saturday.
A 13-year-old boy has died two days after suffering a suspected fentanyl overdose at a school in Hartford, Conn.
Police and EMS responded to the Sport and Medical Sciences Academy Thursday at approximately 10:45 a.m. for a report of an unconscious student. EMS performed CPR on the teen before transporting him to Connecticut Children’s Hospital. He died on Saturday, according to NBC Connecticut.
“Our city grieves for this child lost, for his loved ones, his friends, his teachers, and the entire SMSA family,” Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin told NBC Connecticut in a statement. “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.”
Two other students in the same classroom were also transported to the hospital out of caution and later released, and a teacher who suffered a panic attack also received aid.
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“This tragic loss will raise many emotions, concerns, and questions for our school community, especially our students,” Superintendent Leslie Torres-Rodriguez told NBC Connecticut in a statement on Sunday. “Our school and district Crisis Intervention Team has already been assembled and will continue to help with the needs of students, parents, and school personnel.”
The campus was placed on lockdown as authorities and drug-detecting dogs searched the area. Authorities discovered about 40 bags of powdered fentanyl in two classrooms and the gymnasium. It’s believed a student brought them to campus.
Fentanyl is 80 to 100 times stronger than morphine and is the primary driver of drug overdose deaths in the United States, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
The Hartford Police Department is investigating the events.
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Published on Jan 17,2022