Austin law enforcement said: Massive overdose incident A man is responsible for an incident that left nine people dead and nearly 80 suspected overdoses in downtown Austin last week.
The Austin Police Department announced that its officers and Austin-Travis County EMS began responding to numerous reports of overdoses starting Monday. Although the wave subsided after a few days, it ultimately claimed nine lives and led to dozens of overdoses.
Law enforcement officials and nonprofit organizations attempted to combat mass overdose incidents by distributing Narcan and informing at-risk residents of the large quantities of the drug.
Emergency crews said they responded to 36 suspected overdoses on Monday, 27 on Tuesday and seven more on Wednesday.
Austin-Travis County EMS spokeswoman Krista Steadman said. media briefing That the distribution of Narcan undoubtedly saved lives.
“We saw that number drop dramatically in just a few days, which is amazing. This is because both our community support paramedic team and our partners are essentially using Narcan. I think it speaks to the great job they’ve done to flood the city.”
Lily Hughes with the Texas Harm Reduction Alliance said her team of volunteers was out in the community trying to spread the word about the deadly drug to help users avoid the threat.
Hughes said they also offer training for drug users who want to learn how to use Narcan.
“We spent extra time training and talking to make sure everyone we talked to understood what was going on,” she said.
EMS said it distributed about 400 doses of Narcan, while THRA said it distributed about 100 doses.
Austin police later announced that two people of interest in connection with the overdose were in custody. One of the suspects was identified as 55-year-old Johnny Lee Wright, who was charged with unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon.
A second person, who was not identified, was arrested on suspicion of possession of a controlled substance.
Investigators identified Wright and another person through the use of high-definition cameras that recorded Wright allegedly receiving drugs from an unidentified suspect and then passing them on to users. Stated.
Police said Wright and the second person were “known to officers as drug dealers who regularly worked in the downtown area.”
Reports regarding this incident are as follows:
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