Several L.A. High School Students Overdose, 1 Dies from Pills Laced with Fentanyl

EDUCATE BETTER! –

Sept. 14, 2022 – Earlier in the day, the Los Angeles Fire Department responded to separate calls reporting possible overdoses of two teens in the area of Lexington Park, a few blocks from Bernstein High and a cluster of other schools, according to police.

“It is believed that the overdose victims are students of Bernstein and local high schools,” a police statement said.

One of the victims was a 17-year-old student at nearby Hollywood High School, said Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent Alberto Carvalho.

Including the latest victims, there have been a total of six cases of drug-related incidents including overdoses stemming from illicit narcotics purchased at Lexington Park in recent weeks, Carvalho said. “It is a park well known for allowing individuals to sell drugs to provide drugs to some of our students,” the superintendent told reporters Wednesday.

Los Angeles City Councilmember Mitch O’Farrell, who represents the area, ordered the park closed on Wednesday, Carvalho said.

Investigators believe some of the victims purchased what they thought were pills of Percocet, a prescription painkiller, at the park in a residential area of East Hollywood near the U.S. 101 freeway. Police were investigating whether the pills were laced with fentanyl, which officials said is a common practice.