FIVE students sent to hospital after drinking unknown substance at Philadelphia school, Authorities’ – Scary scenes at a school in West Philadelphia after a dozen students ingested juice laced with an opioid drug, sending several to the hospital Wednesday.
FIVE students sent to hospital after drinking unknown substance at Philadelphia school, Authorities
The Philadelphia School District says the students were inside a classroom at Crossroads Accelerated Academy when they drank grape juice laced with WONK, which is described as an opioid.
Two students illegally brought in the drink, passing it around to 12 students in total, according to officials. The students range in age from 12 to 16.
School District of Philadelphia Spokesperson Monique Braxton told reporters the students immediately began experiencing headaches and some vomited.
“Search your medicine cabinets, search your children’s bedrooms, this is something that is illegally possessed by the students and it’s something that is definitely not wanted on our school property,” Braxton said.
Philadelphia School District spokesperson Marissa Orbanek told CNN that at least 11 students, aged 14 to 16, drank the substance at Crossroads Accelerated Academy around 11:30 a.m.
She said the five students were transported by emergency responders to local hospitals for treatment while the other six chose to go home with their families.
“We take situations like this very seriously as they have the potential to compromise the safe and appropriate learning environment we strive to provide to our students every day,” the district said in a statement.
The Philadelphia Police Department told CNN that as of Wednesday afternoon, it was unknown what was in the substance that the students drank.
The school was also placed on lockdown for a little over an hour when police responded to the scene.
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The district says five of those students were transported to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, and placed in stable condition. The seven others were picked up by families.
The school was temporarily placed on lockdown around 12:15 p.m. as police and counterterrorism officers investigated the scene.
