Hartford boy, 13, dies from fentanyl overdose
A teenage boy in Hartford, Conn., died Saturday, two days after he was hospitalized following a fentanyl overdose at school.
The 13-year-old died around 5:30 p.m., the Hartford Courant reported.
The unidentified seventh-grader and two of his classmates were rushed to the hospital Thursday after the 13-year-old collapsed in the school gym at Sport and Medical Sciences Academy. The other two children were released the same day.
The school was locked down immediately after the teens were hospitalized. Cops said they found about 40 bags of fentanyl inside the school, located in two classrooms and the gym.
“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,” Mayor Luke Bronin told the Courant. “Our police will continue their investigation and seek to hold accountable the adults who ultimately are responsible for this child’s death.”
Police said the 13-year-old ingested the synthetic opioid, which can be 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine. Fentanyl is approved for treating severe pain, but it is often abused and has been blamed for an increase in overdose deaths across the U.S.
Cops are still investigating how the teen acquired the drug, the Courant reported. A police spokesman said it was “packaged in what you would see in street-level sales.”
