Towards the end of September, multiple people were found unresponsive near and inside an apartment building in Pittsburgh’s South Side neighborhood. South Side is a popular neighborhood because the majority of it is composed of bars, restaurants and college kids. On any given night there is plenty of activity, but this incident happened on a Saturday night when South Side is flooded with people.
Image from: https://time.com/5683422/pittsburgh-suspected-drug-overdose/
The first person found was unresponsive on a street corner near the apartment building where the rest of the victims were found. Another victim was then discovered in the lobby of the apartment complex and the rest of the victims were lasted found inside the apartment that one of them lived in. In total there were 7 people discovered, 3 of which died. All of the victims had on orange wristbands, so it was believed they had been to a local bar in South Side that night. It wasn’t until the surviving victims were questioned by police that they were able to link the laced narcotics to a dealer.
Image from: https://www.foxnews.com/us/california-man-pittsburgh-mass-overdose-deaths
They group was at a bar in another Pittsburgh neighborhood, Brookline, which is about 10 minutes from South Side. This is where they received the orange wristbands and met the dealer. At the bar, the group was then invited to an after party at the South Side apartment where the deadly batch of cocaine was distributed amongst them. One of the victims recalled everyone passing around the substance on a knife and immediately after people started dropping to the floor showing symptoms of an overdose. Authorities were alerted of the suspicions and responded around 3am Sunday morning. The next day the dealer was found at a home in Mckees Rocks, about 20 minutes from South Side, and arrested.
The cocaine was believed to be laced with fentanyl but official reports have not been released yet because the medical examiner has not completed all toxicology reports on the deceased yet.
If you or someone you know are struggling with drug addiction remember that you are not alone and that the substance abuse and mental help line is: 1-800-662-HELP (4357).