Two dead in New York apartment by ‘unknown substance’ that gave a reaction consistent with ‘calm’
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Two were killed in an upstate New York apartment building by an ‘unknown substance’ that is consistent with an overdose of ‘tranquilizers’ and has landed three police officers, a firefighter and an EMT to the hospital after The exhibition.
A neighbor on the sixth floor of Brighton Tower 1 in Syracuse called 911 around 10:15 a.m. Wednesday because someone may have died inside the apartment. When emergency personnel arrived at the apartment, they found two dead and one “critically ill,” the Syracuse Fire Department said in a news release.
While authorities waited for the medical examiner to arrive on the scene, police officers began feeling ill within 30 minutes of the exposure, citing nausea and a rapid heart rate, both symptoms of a tranquilizer overdose.
Authorities have not announced what drug the officers came into contact with, but admitted it was “inconsistent with fentanyl overdoses” and acknowledged that tranquilizer overdoses have increased in the community. Drug samples taken at the scene are still being analysed.
Mayor Ben Walsh said “it appears to have been through contact, so those who got sick, it seems [to have been] in direct contact with the substance.
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A neighbor on the sixth floor of Brighton Tower 1 called 911 around 10:15 a.m. and said someone may have died inside the apartment. When emergency personnel arrived at the apartment, they found two deceased and one ‘critical’
While authorities waited for the medical examiner to arrive on the scene, police officers began feeling ill within 30 minutes of the exposure, citing nausea and a rapid heart rate, both symptoms of a tranquilizer overdose. Authorities have not announced what drug the officers came into contact with as it is still being tested.
“It quickly became apparent that this was a potentially hazardous scene and that some unknown contaminant was possibly responsible for the illness,” the news release said. “The investigation continues into what caused the deaths and the symptoms.”
A HAZMAT team was called to the scene to take samples to identify the drug, while three officers and a firefighter were treated on scene for the mysterious illness. They were later transported to Upstate University Hospital and have since been released.
However, while at the hospital, while the four were being ‘decontaminated’, ‘several hospital staff also began to feel ill’, the fire department said.
Realizing this, the ER was closed for more than two hours to “manage patients and prevent further exposures.” A total of nine exposures were reported.
Xylazine, a US-approved veterinary tranquilizer for cows and horses, is now flooding the US illicit drug market, with drug dealers cutting everything from cocaine to heroin with the powerful sedative. He was mentioned during the press conference as a possible culprit.
Mayor Ben Walsh (pictured) said “it appears to have been through contact, so it appears that those who got sick [to have been] in direct contact with the substance
Additional firefighters were called to the scene and the sixth floor was evacuated because “firefighters were unable to definitively identify a specific hazard.”
After monitoring the air, residents on the sixth floor were allowed to return home before 6 p.m., the fire department said.
The scene is being treated as a homicide as drug dealers may be charged with the overdoses, according to syracuse.com.
We know that fentanyl and xylazine [tranq] they’re sickening dozens of our community,’ said Onondaga County Executive J. Ryan McMahon.
America’s streets are being flooded with a terrifying new drug that turns patients into zombies and leaves them with open sores.
Onondaga County Executive J. Ryan McMahon (pictured) said he is aware of fentanyl and tranquilizer overdoses in the county.
Residents were evacuated from the sixth floor after emergency personnel fell ill, but have since returned. While at the hospital, the emergency room had to be closed after several others became ill from exposure while the three officers and one firefighter decontaminated.
Xylazine (also known as ‘tranq’) is most often used to cut fentanyl, the lethally potent synthetic opioid that already kills tens of thousands of Americans each year.
Philadelphia is at the epicenter, with xylazine now linked to a third of all overdose deaths there, up from two percent in 2015. For Rhode Island, another hotspot, it now appears in 40 percent of samples tested.
Patients suffer damage to their blood vessels, causing open wounds to appear on their bodies. Some cannot walk or require amputations because the injuries are so severe that they cut right to the bone.